


Because You're Mine, I'll Play the Line

by elle_delajoie



Category: Glee
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2020-01-31 21:50:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 34
Words: 439,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18600085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elle_delajoie/pseuds/elle_delajoie
Summary: Instead of going home after scoring the winning field goal, Kurt heads to a party at Strando's house.  Having just recently learned his lesson about overindulging in alcohol, Kurt carefully avoids drinking any, but pops a rainbow of jello shots in quick succession, not realizing they had alcohol in them.  He wakes up in David Karofksy's bed the next morning.  What if Dave had gotten up the nerve to tell Kurt about his crush in Season 1 and Azimio Adams had been cool with Dave being gay?Updates on Fridays.





	1. Chapter 1

Kurt woke up slowly, snuggled into the warmth of someone holding him close. It felt like a very realistic version of his many dreams until he breathed in just a little too quickly and his head began to spin mercilessly. He couldn’t move for fear his head would actually explode and he wasn’t sure he could even speak because his mouth was so dry that he could barely swallow. He tried moving his arm just a tiny bit in hopes that he could somehow sit up, but that hope slipped away quickly as the waves of nausea kept him from even considering that option again.

“Fancy?”

“Mmmf.” Kurt filled with panic, but couldn’t actually do anything about it.

“It’s okay. You’re alright. Well, I suppose you feel like you’re dying, but you’re going to live. Don’t move. I’ll come around and help you.”

Just a minute later, some pills appeared in front of Kurt’s face, along with a water bottle with a straw in it.

“Here. Open up enough that I can put these in your mouth or take them from me and swallow them.”

Kurt opened his mouth. Once he could tell the pills were in, he sealed his lips around the straw and drank.

“Drink some more, if you can. It will help.”

Kurt took a few more swallows. He lay as still as possible. He finally managed to form a coherent word. “Where?”

“You’re in my room, in my bed, Fancy. I didn’t know what else to do with you. I had to keep you safe.”

“Safe?”

“Yeah. Do you remember anything from last night?”

“We won.”

“Yeah, your field goal won the game last night.”

“Party.”

“Yeah. That too. You went to Strando’s to the party.”

“Dancing.”

“Oh, God. Yeah, you were definitely dancing. If I didn’t know you at least a little, I’d think you had exotic dancer as one of your future career goals.”

Kurt opened his eyes in a flash of panic.

“Don’t worry. You weren’t stripping like Brittany.

Kurt closed his eyes back and mumbled, “Jello.”

“Yeah, jello. Jello shots. You had at least five, maybe more. I’m not sure. But you were out of it. Those things pack a punch and all the sugar disguises the alcohol.”

“No more, ever.”

“Sounds like a reasonable plan. Just lay here for a few minutes. I’ll be right back.”

The door to the room opened 15 minutes later. Kurt opened his eyes again and was in a little less pain than before.

“I brought you a Gatorade. I know you probably don’t like it, but it will help rehydrate you.”

Kurt took a drink through the straw. “Thanks.”

“Try to eat this. You’ll feel better faster, if you can keep it down.”

Kurt had closed his eyes back, but heard the plate being sat on the side table.

“I can help you sit up, if you’ll let me.”

“M’kay.” Kurt allowed himself to be helped into a sitting position, leaning against the headboard. “Oh, God. My head.”

“Yeah, you have a killer hangover.”

“The jello?”

“Those were vodka jello shots. You had quite a few. I saw you down at least five in a row. That’s when I intervened.”

“I didn’t know.”

“I figured as much. You were hot and you had been dancing, but I didn’t see you drinking any alcohol. Then when I saw you in the kitchen take five of those shots, I started watching you.”

“Thanks.”

“I would have told you, if I could have gotten close enough to you to stop you. Try to eat the egg and the banana.” He handed Kurt the plate.

Kurt picked up half of a banana and attempted to take a bite. It took his full concentration to do it. He chewed it slowly and swallowed.

“You don’t seem to be panicking about needing to be home.”

“My dad thinks I’m at Tina’s with Mercedes.”

“I see.”

“When is he expecting you home?”

“He usually comes home at 2:00 on Saturdays. Sometimes earlier if I’ve been at the shop helping him. But I would guess 2:00 today, but he won’t be upset. If he wants to know what I’m doing, he’ll text me. Where is my phone?”

“Right next to you on the side table.”

Kurt picked it up. “I can’t see clearly at all. Do I have any missed texts?” He turned the phone.

“Nope.”

“Then, I’m fine.” Kurt managed to finish the banana and reached for the Gatorade again. He cut the egg in quarters and took a bite. “Why are you…? Why did you help me?”

“I didn’t want any of those jackasses to do anything to you.”

“But you treat me just like they do. This is the first time you’ve said more than five words to me that weren’t required of you.”

“I’m sorry, Fancy.”

“Why do you call me ‘Fancy’?”

“Your clothes, of course. You always come to school looking like you belong in some fashion magazine. You’re just too fancy and too posh for a place like McKinley, well Lima in general. You belong somewhere else.”

Kurt got the rest of the egg down and took another drink of Gatorade. He put the plate back on the side table. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I still feel like I’m missing something. You brought me to your house. You put me in your bed and slept with me. At school, you act like most of the rest of the jocks, like I have cooties and you could catch the gay from me.” Kurt closed his eyes again, trying to will his headache into going away. He felt the bed dip next to him.

“I’m not sure that now is a good time to tell you.”

“Well, it seems like the best time to tell me from my perspective. No one is here but us. And to be perfectly honest, if could have moved when I woke up, I might have run out of here like the bed was on fire and driven straight home. Well, assuming that my Navigator is here. Otherwise, I guess I would have tried walking to Strando’s to retrieve my SUV.”

“It’s here. I drove it back here last night. I got a ride to the game with someone else. My truck’s in the shop. Don’t worry, though. I pulled your SUV into the garage, so no one driving by can see it.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Please answer me about why.”

“Alright.”

There was silence for at least five minutes.

“My hangover didn’t give me the ability to read minds. You’ll actually have to talk to explain it to me.”

“I know. First I just want you to know how incredibly sorry I am for how I behaved last year. And as for telling you, I’m afraid.”

“Of me? I can’t even move yet.”

“I’ve never told anyone.”

“Oh. It’s alright. You don’t have to say anything. I’ll just chalk the whole thing up to some crazy cosmic event that defies explanation. It’s fine. I’ll get up and get out of your house as soon as I can. I think maybe I just need a little more sleep, if that’s okay.”

“Um. Sure.”

“What time is it anyway?”

“9:23.”

“Okay. Wake me up again at 11:00, okay?”

“Sure thing, but drink some more of that Gatorade first, if you can.”

“Mmm hmm.” Kurt took a few more swallows and slid back down into the bed.

An hour and a half later, Kurt felt a slight pressure on his shoulder.

“Kurt, it’s 11:00. I brought you a Coke this time. I’m sure you don’t drink them, but the caffeine might help your headache. I’m not sure. I’ll put it here on the side table. You can open it if you want it.”

“M’kay. Thanks.” Kurt stretched a bit and slid up in the bed, a lot less dizzy than the previous time. “Can you do me a favor?”

“Maybe?”

“It’s an easy one, well for you anyway. Can you go get my duffle bag out of the back of my Navigator? I was hoping that maybe you’d let me shower and change. I really don’t want to go out looking like this.”

“Sure.”

A few minutes later, he heard the bathroom door move.

“I put your bag in my bathroom. Do you need some help up?”

“I think I’ve got it.” Kurt got up slowly and made his way into the bathroom.

“I put a clean towel and washcloth on the sink.”

“Thanks.”

A couple of minutes later, Kurt heard a knock on the bathroom door.

“I just wanted to tell you that I’ll be downstairs. I just heard my dad come in. I’m going to go run interference. Just stay up here. I’ll be back.”

“Okay.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Paul Karofsky was standing at the kitchen island making himself a couple of sandwiches. Dave was sitting on a barstool facing him.

“So, you brought home the kicker from the football team because he took a bunch of jello shots at the party after the football game last night?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t get why you’re down here telling me this like it means something. You’ve brought home plenty of guys after sporting events. Some drunk, some not. But you’re telling me this like it’s important.”

“Dad…”

“Just tell me. I’m here for you. You know that. I know that something’s been bothering you, but I wanted you to come to me on your own. I know that teenagers don’t like their parents prying into their personal lives.”

“I’m gay.”

“Oh. That’s not what I was expecting, but okay. I’m not going to disown you or kick you out, if that’s why you were so hesitant to tell me.”

“I’m not afraid of you knowing. It’s Mom. I didn’t say anything because I know she won’t accept it. She hates gay people. That’s what’s been wrong with me lately. Every time she’s made negative comments about gay people, it’s personal to me. She spoils me and loves me, but I know it’s conditional. I know that the instant she finds out, it’s over. I won’t be her son anymore.”

“I’m glad you told me. Why are you telling me now and what are you still not telling me about having the kicker here?”

“I like him. Like a lot. Enough to come out publicly so he might go out with me.”

“Oh, wow. Okay. I’m assuming he doesn’t know that yet.”

“He doesn’t. You’re the first person I’ve told that I’m gay.”

“Alright. Here’s what’s going to happen. Your mom is still at her ladies retreat. She won’t be back until after church tomorrow. I want you to spend the day and night somewhere else tomorrow. I’ll be here for dinner Monday. We’ll talk more then. I’m going to go out until 6:00. I’d like to meet the boy you like. But I know that may not be possible since you don’t know how he feels about all of this. But if things go well, invite him to stay for dinner. I’ll get pizza and we can watch a movie, the three of us, or if he leaves, just the two of us.”

“You don’t hate me?”

“Of course not. I may have been a jackass when I was your age, but I’ve learned a lot since then. People are born gay. It’s not a disease or something that can be or needs to be cured. You’re you. You’ve always been who you are. I’m not going to disown or punish you for being yourself. I realize that your mom is another story. But if she can’t be civil and love you for who you are, then she’s the one that will have to find somewhere else to live until she either gets over it or you move out after high school or college. Yes, I love your mother, but if she CHOOSES to walk away from you, that is her choice. You did not choose to be gay. I love you just like I always have and I always will. I’m going to head out and give you a chance to talk to this boy.”

“Thanks, Dad. I’ll see you at 6:00.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave knocked on the door and opened it just a crack. “Kurt?”

“Yeah, I’m dressed. Come on in.”

“I’m ready to tell you.”

Kurt had pulled the covers up on the bed while he was waiting. He propped the pillows up, sat down, and was leaning against the headboard when Dave came back in the room. He sat down at the end of the bed facing Kurt.

He took a deep breath. “This is hard for me. I just want you to know how sorry I am for how I behaved last year. It was a stupid jock freshman hazing thing, but I should have just refused to participate, but I wasn’t strong like you. I want to be part of the ‘in’ group.” Tears were running down his cheeks. “I was trying to hide. Hiding in the crowd. I’m so sorry.”

“So, you brought me here last night because you feel guilty about how you treated me last year? You were far from the worst. I mean mostly you just slushied me. Some minor name-calling. A few light locker shoves. You didn’t really stand out amongst my tormentors calling attention to yourself by being the worst of the bunch.”

“That doesn’t matter. The fact that I did any of it was so wrong. And I’m so, so, sorry.”

“You’ve mentioned how sorry you are several times. Is this some kind of penance?”

“No.”

Kurt closed his eyes again, getting a little frustrated. “I told you that you didn’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“I do want to.”

“Alright.”

“I brought you back here to protect you. I was afraid of what the other jocks might do to you with as drunk as you were. I was afraid they would try to take advantage of you.”

“Advantage of me?” Kurt paused. “Oh. I don’t think any of them are interested in me that way.”

“Being drunk out of your mind can make people do things they normally keep suppressed.”

“You think one of them is secretly gay?”

“I know for certain there’s at least one.”

“Oh.” Kurt closed his eyes again. He was feeling better than earlier, but the sunlight in the room was still a bit much.

“It’s me.”

“What’s you?”

“I’m the one that I know for certain is gay.”

“Is this some kind of prank?”

“Definitely not. I’ve had a crush on you since like a year ago when we started at McKinley. I was pretty sure I was gay before high school, but the first time I saw you, my suspicions were confirmed.”

“Okay, so… You’re gay and you have a crush on me? And you brought me here when I was out of my mind drunk to protect me from any of the other jocks who might have tried to … hurt me.”

“Yep.”

“That’s actually really sweet. So, the insults to the way I dress?”

“Not really insults. I say them sarcastically so that no one will know how hot I think you are.”

“Pulling pigtails?”

“Pretty much.” He nodded. “But last night, you were … so sexy dancing. I just knew I couldn’t leave you there. I don’t know if there are any other closeted jocks, but I like you so much and I couldn’t let one of them hurt you.”

“You think I’m sexy?”

“Umm, yeah. Definitely.”

Kurt didn’t know what to do with the answer he got. They sat in silence for a few minutes.

“Do your parents know?”

“I told my dad when you were in the shower. My mom is going to flip out. My dad’s going to tell her tomorrow when she gets back from her church retreat. He said for me to find somewhere to spend the day tomorrow and tomorrow night so he can deal with her reaction.”

Kurt patted the bed next to him so that Dave would move closer. Once he did, Kurt reached out his hand and offered it to Dave. “I’m sorry.”

Dave took his hand. “No reason for you to be sorry. You didn’t make her a bigoted homophobe. That’s what’s caused me so much stress and made me such a pain in the ass more than anything. She’s always spoiled me rotten. I’m an only child. Once I got old enough to realize that I really didn’t like girls the way I was supposed to and that guys made me feel that way instead, I knew that my time with her was nothing but a farce, but it’s hard. I do love her and I want her to still love me, but she won’t. But I can’t keep going the way I’m going. I’m not that guy that I see myself becoming.”

“What do you mean?”

“If I keep this up, keeping all of my disappointment and anger inside, and bullying people, I’m going to turn into … I don’t know. I just don’t want to be that guy.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah. You’re 16 like me, I’m assuming. You have time to change.”

“I know I’m big and chubby, and I’m not good-looking like you. And I’ll understand if you aren’t interested in dating me. I mean just because I’m the only gay guy you know, doesn’t mean we have to date. But can we at least try to be friends?”

“I’m not sure who told you that you aren’t good looking, but they were lying.”

Dave blushed.

“And I’m not opposed to considering dating you, but I’m not sure that we have anything in common at all. We have to at least enjoy talking to each other or something. Otherwise, all we’d do would be make out.”

Dave swallowed hard at the thought of making out with Kurt. “Um. I like to read. I’m not actually a dumb jock. I know I portray myself that way, but I’m in Pre-calc and Chemistry this year.”

“I see. I’m in Algebra 2. I took Algebra in the 8th grade.”

“Me too, but I took Geometry and Algebra 2 both last year.”

“I’m in Spanish and French. No time to take two math classes last year. What’s your GPA?”

“3.9. I got a B+ in French both semesters last year.”

“You’ve done an amazing job of pulling off the dumb jock façade.”

“Thanks, I think.”

Kurt laughed. “Oh, God. My head. No laughing.”

“I like your laugh.” David squeezed Kurt’s hand.

“So, if we talk more and decide that we think we have enough common interests to give this a shot, are you going to stay in the closet? I’m not sure how I would deal with that, but I know for certain that you’d have to give up bullying people. High school is this really short period of time that feels like forever while we’re living through it, but it’s really not. And you did already say you don’t want to keep heading in the direction you’re going.”

“I don’t. And I will come out, if you decide that you’re willing to give me a chance. I’ll even join the football team to make sure none of them come after you for ‘turning me’ or whatever stupid thing at least one of them will say.”

“You’re on the hockey team. The puckheads clash with the football team all the time over who’s top dog.”

“Like you said, in less than three years, no one will care who was the top dog.”

“The jocks are likely to take it badly and torment you.”

“If you’ll go out with me, it would be worth it.”

“You’re serious?”

“I am. But be honest – if you don’t think you could ever like someone who looks like me, just tell me now.”

“You’re cute. And I love the muscles. I’m definitely into the muscles. I know, very shallow of me, but you asked me to be truthful. I’m not into porn at all, but I have a stack of vintage muscle magazines that I like to peruse frequently.”

Dave laughed. “Seriously? Vintage muscle magazines?”

“Yep. And your arms would fit right in.” Kurt turned a deep red from blushing so much.

“I see.” Dave blushed again.

“Obviously, I’m behind in the development department and who knows if I’ll ever catch up. High voice, no facial hair, things like that. But my dad took me to an endocrinologist to make sure everything was okay when my voice never dropped. I definitely have an age-appropriate sized … you know.”

“I know. I’ve seen.”

“How?”

“I may have hung back and spied on you in gym class last year, once or twice.”

“You perv,” Kurt laughed. “Oh, God. No laughing. Well, it’s definitely not fair that you’ve seen me undressed and I haven’t seen you.”

Dave blushed again. “You want me to get undressed?”

“You need a shower, don’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“So, just leave the door open and I’ll perv on you from here. Nothing up close and personal.”

“You’re serious?”

“Well, fair’s fair.”

“Okay.” Dave moved to get up to go shower. He went to his closet first to grab some jeans. He grabbed underwear as he passed his dresser. He went in the bathroom and left the door open and got undressed and got in the shower, his face flushed from knowing that Kurt was watching him. Barely more than five minutes later, he got back out of the shower, dried off, and got dressed. He shaved, brushed his teeth, grabbed his sweats on the way out, and dumped them in his hamper. He looked over at Kurt.

“You’re not chubby. You just wear clothes that are unflattering to your body type. I could help with that.”

Dave laughed. “I’m sure you could, Fancy, but I’m not sure that my allowance could take a shopping trip with you.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised. I might look like a million bucks, but I shop on a shoestring budget.”

“Well, then, maybe I’ll let you take me shopping. I just wear whatever my mom hangs in my closet. Since I never had any interest in attracting girls, I never cared how I dressed. But I could be persuaded to change my look.”

Kurt smiled at him. “Your arms are amazing.”

“And your ass is fantastic.”

Kurt turned red.

“You started it,” Dave laughed. He pulled a shirt out of the closet and put it on.

“I think you’re wearing the wrong size.”

“Well, if you decide you want to date, one of our dates can be a shopping trip to get me a new outfit.”

“Mmm. Bribery.”

“Is it working?”

“It might be,” Kurt smiled.

Dave sat back down on the bed next to him and took his hand. “This okay?”

“Yeah. I’m scared that you’ll break my heart, that this is some kind of joke, that you’ll turn on me, and everyone will torment me even worse.”

“I can see how you’d be scared of that. I’m scared too. I may be big, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not afraid of the jocks finding out. Azimio and I have been friends since kindergarten. I already know I’m going to lose my mom. Losing him too would be really hard. It’s scary.”

“I lost my mom when I was 8. I know how hard it is to lose someone you love.”

“I didn’t know.”

“I figured you didn’t. We never went to school together until last year. Are you sure you want to date me bad enough to face all of the crap that’s going to happen at school? You’re going to get slushied.”

“Honestly, I’m more concerned about what they’ll do to you since some of them are dumb enough to think you can turn people gay.”

“Yeah.”

“If I could get Z on our side, it would make a big difference.”

“I can see that. New topic. Back to things we have in common. Do you like music? Do you sing?”

Dave blushed.

“You do. You sing?”

Dave nodded.

“Sing for me, please?”

“Can I just sing along with something?”

“Sure. I don’t expect you to have backing tracks and something prepared.”

“Give me a minute.” He got up and looked through his CDs and put one in. He sang along with the whole song.

_Let me go home._  
_It’ll all be alright._  
_I’ll be home tonight._  
_I’m coming back home._

“Oh, my God. You’re a crooner. Your voice is gorgeous.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“I love the feeling in that song. I want to feel that. I want to have someone to go home to someday. I don’t want to date girls that I’ll never be attracted to. I’m torn when I listen to that song because coming out is so scary, but staying in the closet is killing me too.”

“Come back and sit with me, please.”

Dave sat on the bed next to Kurt again.

Kurt picked up the Gatorade and drank more of it. “Do you like old movies?”

“I do. You can take some more painkillers.” Dave offered him two more from the bottle he had put on the side table on his side of the bed.

Kurt took them and swallowed them. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“What about musicals?”

“I like the old ones that I’ve seen on DVD. I’ve not been to a live show anywhere.”

“Would you go?”

“With you, I would.”

Kurt smiled and offered his hand to Dave again, who quickly took it.

“My dad wants to meet you. He’s coming back at 6:00 with pizza. He said we can watch a movie together and eat the pizza. If you’ll stay, I’ll let him know what you like on your pizza so he doesn’t get something you’ll hate.”

“I know you’ve already come out twice today, but how would you feel about going with me to the shop and telling my dad?”

“Scared, but I’ll do it as long as it’s just the three of us.”

“I don’t want to lie and sneak around behind my dad’s back anymore. It’s been just the two of us for 8 years. If you’re serious about us dating, at least he has to know, even if you don’t come out to anyone else at school. I want him to allow me to come here and allow you to come over.”

“Okay.”

“Only if you’re sure. I don’t want to pressure you. You can think about it if you want, but I won’t lie to him. I can just head over there and tell him the truth about last night without naming you. And just so you know, I’ve never come out to my dad either. I mean, everyone knows, I guess. But I’ve never actually said the words to him.”

“Do you think he’ll be okay with it?”

“I do. There’s still that small voice that says he might not be.”

“Before we jump ahead to that, let’s talk some more.”

“Alright.”

“Do you like any sports stuff?”

“I find televised sporting events really boring, to be honest. I don’t think I would mind watching games if the team had people on it I actually knew. I’m not sure. Is that the deal breaker, that I don’t like to watch sports on TV?”

“Not necessarily, but it would be more fun if you liked to do it with me.”

“I would sit with you and snuggle up, well, I guess that would depend on whether you like to snuggle. But I could sit with you and read or something. We could be close, even if I don’t like watching the actual event.”

“Can I scoot closer? I’m pretty sure that I’ll really like snuggling with you, but we could try it out for a few minutes.”

Kurt nodded.

Dave scooted closer and lifted his arm to allow Kurt to move a little closer and lean in. Kurt leaned his head back against Dave’s shoulder. Dave wrapped his arm around Kurt’s side. Kurt reached out and interlaced his right hand with Dave’s left, which was across his chest. He closed his eyes and tried to relax. They sat that way for several minutes before either one of them spoke.

“So, what do you think?” Kurt asked.

“I really like it. You?”

“Me too. What else do you like to do?”

“Um. Camping, fishing, bowling, swimming, and my dad and I golf. That’s where he was this morning. We have a boat that we could take out to the lake.”

“I like all of those things, except I’ve never been golfing.”

“Really?”

“Really. I do those other things with my dad usually. But he might be okay with me going with you and your dad or the four of us going. We don’t have a boat, but my dad would love to go fishing on one. He loves _Deadliest Catch_.”

“So does my dad.”

“On the former topic of sports, I like playing sports. So, playing basketball or tossing a baseball around or playing Frisbee or something would be fine. I even own a baseball glove. I just quit trying to play with other guys once puberty began to hit everyone. None of them wanted me around in the locker room. And the guys would get really bent out of shape if I out-performed them. It was like the way guys get if a girl is better than them at some sport. It just wasn’t worth the hassle.”

“I can see how that would be the case. Some guys have serious issues with that. But I like playing sports just for fun too. Not everything has to be about winning and being the best at something. Do you like video games?”

“Some. I don’t have an Xbox or a Playstation, which is mostly what I hear the other guys talk about. I’m not really into games where the entire objective is just to push a couple of buttons in a certain order to kill all of the members of the other team. I like puzzle-type games or games of skill and critical thinking.”

“I like both.”

“So, it seems to me that we wouldn’t be completely bored spending time together.”

Dave squeezed him just a bit. “Seems that way.”

“Can I kiss you?”

“Hypothetically? Like can you kiss me if we date? Or are you asking me right now?”

“Right now.”

“Okay. I’ve never kissed anyone.”

“Me neither. But I guess I want to know if there’s any spark. You wanted to know if I’d date you and if not whether we could try being friends.   Kissing you seems to be a way to find out if there’s any spark.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

Kurt turned and rearranged a bit. He moved so their lips were nearly touching. “You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.”

They both moved forward just the tiniest bit and their lips barely touched. They both pressed in until they were actually kissing. After a couple of minutes, they pulled back to take a breath.

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“I get all the hype about it now,” Kurt said.

Dave laughed.

Kurt moved and turned so that he was facing the headboard, but still leaned against Dave’s side. He leaned forward and kissed him again. Dave wrapped his arm around Kurt’s back and neck to support him and kissed back.

“I’m 100% convinced we should go tell your dad.”

Kurt laughed. “Is that so?”

“Um hmm.” Dave leaned forward and kissed Kurt again. “I didn’t think anything could be better than my imagination about doing that, but I was wrong. Completely wrong.” He kissed Kurt again. “I think I could do this all day long. God, you’re so hot.”

Kurt blushed. The girls had called him cute and adorable, but sexy or hot wasn’t something he had expected to hear about himself and hearing it shot right through him. Kurt licked at Dave’s lower lip. Dave moaned and followed Kurt’s lead and did the same thing. It wasn’t long before they were exploring each other’s mouths thoroughly. Kurt slowed them back down and went back to more chaste kisses.

“We have to cool down or I’m going to need more clothes and I don’t have any more with me.”

“M’kay.”

Kurt pulled back a little to reach for his phone to see the time. “It’s 12:30. Let’s go talk to my dad. Maybe your dad would be okay with my dad coming for pizza too. Maybe they’d both feel better if they met?”

“Okay. I’ll ask my dad. Why don’t you grab your stuff and we’ll head out.” Dave texted Paul.

Kurt went in the bathroom and packed up all of his stuff and came back out.

“He said it’s fine to invite him.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“I’ll go in and talk to him first. Then I’ll come out and get you and take you inside with me.”

“Okay.”

Kurt went inside and got Burt’s attention and got him to go into the office with him. Kurt closed the door behind them.

“I need to talk to you.”

“Okay.” Burt sat down at his desk. “ Are you okay? You seem really serious.”

Kurt sat down in one of the chairs facing Burt’s desk. “Well, something happened last night that could have ended very badly, but someone was looking out for me and I’m fine.”

“Explain.”

“I found out what jello shots are this morning when I woke up with a hangover from hell.”

Burt laughed.

“Well, I’m glad someone sees the humor in this. So, I didn’t drink any alcohol at all. I had some bottled water and a can of Diet Coke that I opened myself and never sat down anywhere to keep it from being spiked. I learned my lesson about alcohol last week.”

“And you downed how many jello shots?”

“Less than 10, more than 5.”

Burt laughed again. “Sorry, bud. I should have told you about those. I guess I just didn’t realize that you didn’t know about them.”

“They were just nice and cold and I was so hot from there being so many people and everything.”

“I’m not mad at you. You learned the hard way. I’m sorry about that.”

“Well, no more jello for me for a while.”

“Yeah, I bet not. So, you said someone was watching out for you.”

“Yes, but I’ll get to that in a minute. There’s something else I want to tell you first.”

“Alright.”

Kurt leaned forward, propped his elbows on his legs, and put his forehead down on his hands.

“Hey, Kurt. It’s okay. I’m not going to ground you or something. You didn’t do it on purpose.”

“It’s not that. You came downstairs and found me and Britt and Tina dancing.”

“Yeah.”

“And you asked if one of them was my girlfriend.”

“Uh huh.”

“I lied.”

“I know.”

“You aren’t mad?”

“Nah.”

“I’m gay.”

“I know. I’ve known since you were three. I love you just the same. I just wanted to give you the freedom to tell me when you felt comfortable enough to do it on your own.”

Kurt wiped away a few tears and nodded. He took a deep breath and started to talk again. “Okay. The person who was watching out for me is one of the jocks.”

“Really?” he asked in a disbelieving tone.

“Yes, really. He drove my Navigator to his house and took me in and put me to bed.”

Burt raised his eyebrows.

“In my clothes, which I will add does not make you feel better when you wake up with a hangover from hell. Sleeping in skinny jeans is not comfortable.”

Burt laughed again. “Sorry. Okay. So, this jock took you to his house, let you sleep off the jello shots in your clothes in a bed, and took care of you. That was surprisingly nice of him given how few of the jocks have ever seemed to be even remotely tolerant.”

“I’m not going to lie and say that it was someone that had previously been nice to me, but he’s never been outright vicious to me. He’s not a football player, so he’s not one of the ones that nailed our lawn furniture up on the roof.”

“I know there are other things that go on. You just don’t share them thinking that you’re protecting me. You know that just makes me worry more, right? Fearing the unknown is worse than knowing what is going on.”

“Sorry. I didn’t think about it that way.”

“I know, kiddo. You try to protect me, but it’s supposed to be the other way around. Anyway, this jock that took care of you last night isn’t one of the completely awful ones, but he’s never been supportive.”

“Right. I’d like you to meet him. He drove me here. I’m not drunk, but I still have a headache.”

Burt nodded. “Fine. Go get him.”

Kurt came back a few minutes later with Dave following along behind him. “Dad, this David Karofsky.”

“You Paul’s kid?” Burt reached out to shake his hand.

David shook it. “Yes, sir.”

“Don’t ‘sir’ me.”

“Yes, Mr. Hummel.”

“Have a seat, kid. And just call me ‘Burt’.”

“I’ll try.”

He and Kurt sat down facing Burt.

“So, you kept Kurt safe last night. I appreciate that.”

“You’re welcome. I didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. I saw him down five jello shots before I could make it through the crowded kitchen to get him to stop. I hadn’t seen him drink anything all night. I knew he didn’t know there was alcohol in them when he downed them all in succession like that.”

“I took one of each color.”

Burt laughed. “I get it, kiddo. They looked good and you had no idea.”

Kurt just shook his head, aggravated with his own naïveté.

“I’m glad you looked out for him.”

“There’s something else I want to tell you.”

“What’s that?”

“I’ve liked Kurt for over a year now.”

“Liked? As in you’re gay?”

“I am. I just told my dad this morning. I told Kurt about 30 minutes later.”

“I see. So, when you took him home last night?”

“He was passed out cold. I carried him upstairs. I took his shoes off and put him in bed. I just kept him safe. But with as many of the guys that were drunk, I didn’t want to leave him there. One of them could have … well, you know.”

“I do.”

“Dave and I have spent the last couple of hours talking. He asked me to date him and I said ‘yes’.”

“I see. Do you have anything in common?”

“That’s what we talked about. We do. And his dad invited us over for pizza and a movie. This whole thing is a surprise to him. He had no idea that Dave was gay. I know I just told you today too, but you said you knew.”

“Yeah. So, pizza. What time?”

“6:00.”

“What about your mom?”

“She won’t be there. I have to find some place to stay tomorrow during the day and tomorrow night when my dad tells her. It won’t go well. She’s very religious and very homophobic. She’s at a ladies retreat right now. My dad said that he will side with me because he loves me and I didn’t choose to be gay and that my mom is choosing to hate gay people. So, more than likely when I go home for dinner Monday night, my mom will have moved out. She will probably try to convince him to force me into some type of corrective therapy. Hopefully, my dad can prevent that from happening.”

Burt gave him his phone number. “Text your address to me, so I know where to be at 6:00. Paul and I will talk this evening.”

“You two know each other, I take it,” Kurt said.

“Not well, but yes. He was two years ahead of me in school. We played football together for a couple of years in high school. But you know how it is – the upperclassmen don’t really have that many younger friends. He went off to college and law school and got married before he moved back. I went to JC here in Lima and took over running the shop. Paul brings their cars here to get them worked on. We’re long-time acquaintances for lack of a better description.”

Kurt nodded.

“Give Dave your keys. I want to talk to you for just a couple more minutes.”

“He still has them.”

“It was nice meeting you,” Dave said as he stood up to leave the office.

“Yeah. You too, kid. I’ll see you and your dad later.”

Dave nodded and shut the door behind him.

“You’re sure about this?”

“As sure as any teenager is about having their first boyfriend. He’s cute, Dad. He was really nice to me this morning. He had water and pain killers waiting when I woke up. He sincerely apologized about his past behavior. He made me breakfast in bed and gave me Gatorade and a Coke. He was really trying to make me feel better.”

Burt nodded.

“And you asked if I’m sure. Think about this. I know it’s a ridiculous scenario, but try hard to imagine.”

“Okay.”

“What if you were 16 before you had never met a straight girl? Every other girl you had met your ENTIRE life had been a lesbian.”

Burt laughed.

“I know, Dad. I told you it was ridiculous, but focus. Think about it. You’re 16 years old and you have NEVER met a straight girl. Not a single girl you ever met would consider dating a boy.”

“I got it.”

“And maybe that girl didn’t seem to be a 100% match, but maybe 60% of 70% and she told you that she had liked you for a year and that you were handsome and attractive and she wanted to date you. Would you have just turned her down without giving it a try, knowing that your chance of meeting another straight girl in the next three years was really slim?”

“I get it. You’ve never had a chance to do the social dating that people your age do. I’m just not sure I’m ready for this.”

Kurt laughed at him. “Dad, I’m 16. So, is Dave. It’s not like I’m 12.”

“I’m not ready for you to … I’m not ready to be the parent of an older teen. It was easier when you were 12.”

Kurt laughed at him again. “If you’re thinking that I’m going to run right down to the free clinic for condoms, you’ve gotten the wrong impression. He and I seem to have enough things in common not to get bored with each other in 30 minutes, but we’ll just have to see. But oh, God, he’s got the most amazing voice.”

“He sang for you?”

“He did. He’s a crooner.”

Burt laughed. “Well, that makes him all the more dangerous. He can woo your clothes right off with his smooth voice.”

“Maybe.”

“Kurt Eli Hummel!”

“I’m teasing you,” Kurt smirked and winked. “I need you to be an adult about this. Please, please do not act like I am your 14-year old virgin daughter who is about to be deflowered.”

Burt rolled his eyes.

“I know you. You’re overprotective. But I am NOT a girl. I do NOT need my virtue or virginity or whatever protected and defended by my father. This isn’t some medieval fiefdom where you’re guarding my innocence so I can bring a better price. If and when I decide that I’m ready to have sex with someone, I will use whatever protection is needed. I am fully aware of potential STIs and I do know where the free clinic is.”

“I am not ready to have this conversation.”

“Whether you’re ready of not isn’t my problem, you know. The hands of time don’t stop moving forward because you want me to remain a child.”

“I know. I really do.”

“Maybe you should go down to the clinic and educate yourself if that’s what makes you so hesitant to talk about this with me. I took health last year and the entire sexual health section was like two pages long and basically said ‘Don’t have sex and you won’t get this list of 20 horrible STIs.’ I haven’t actually been to the clinic, but if you want to have a serious conversation about this with me, maybe you should go.”

“Probably a good idea.”

“Now, just so you know, I do not consider myself ready to have sex, but when that changes, it will be up to me to decide, not you. Being gay and being the smaller male in this particular relationship does not automatically make me the bottom or the so-called ‘girl’. Even if I decide that I like to be the bottom, that won’t make me the girl. You’ve seen that I am fully male.”

“Yeah. I get it. I’ll do my best.”

“Please do. I really want to give this a shot. Maybe I’ll get my heart broken. Maybe I won’t. But I want to do this on my own, without pressure from you about what I can and can’t do. You’re not going to go all ‘Open doors.’ and ‘He can’t come over unless I’m home.’ or ‘You can’t go there unless his dad is home.’ are you?”

Burt looked guilty.

“Not happening. I came to you fully disclosing our relationship today. I came out to you and told you what happened at the party. I came clean about the alcohol incident at school last week. If you implement those types of rules, you’re asking me to lie and sneak around. Do you value truth in our relationship?”

“I get it.”

“Answer me, please.”

“I don’t want you to lie to me.”

“Then don’t start by implementing ridiculous rules.”

“They’re not ridiculous.”

“They are. If I can’t have him over or go over to his house unless a parent is home, then I won’t get to spend much time with him. It’s not like we can be like a heterosexual couple and just sit at the park holding hands while talking. We’re safe in our houses. Let us be together where we’re safe.”

“I’ll think about what you’ve said and we’ll all talk tonight. Don’t leave the poor kid sitting outside waiting for you any longer.”

Kurt nodded and stood up.

“Thanks for telling me, Kurt.” Burt stood up and wrapped Kurt in a bear hug. “I love you. And I appreciate you telling me the truth.”

“I love you too, Dad.” Kurt squeezed him back.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“So, what do you want to do for the rest of the afternoon? Do you want to go to my house? Back to your house?”

“I’ve never been to your house. Let’s go there.”

Kurt gave him directions on how to get there. He pressed the garage door opener and Dave drove in. Kurt closed it once they were in. He grabbed his bag out of the backseat. Dave followed him to the door and waited for Kurt to unlock it. He followed Kurt inside.

“My room’s in the basement. Mini tour. To the left is the half-bath. To the right, the foyer and the front door.” He pointed to the stairway between where they were standing and the front door. “The stairs go up to my dad’s bedroom and office.” He stepped through the narrow foyer into the living room. “Living room, obviously. To the right, you can see into the kitchen. In the back corner is the doorway into the dining room.”

Dave nodded. “Got it.”

“That door next to the kitchen leads down into the basement.” Kurt led Dave across the living room and opened the door to the stairway that led down to his room. Dave followed him down the stairs. Kurt slipped his shoes off. Dave noticed and followed his lead and slipped his off as well.

“So, this is it.”

“It’s nice. You have a lot of room.”

“Yeah, on the upper level there’s a large bedroom, a bathroom, and basically an office. It’s a decent office, but really small to be a bedroom. They used it as my room until I was about 4. The doctors had told my mom that she couldn’t have kids after she had tried for so long and hadn’t been successful. They bought this house because they didn’t need much room for just the two of them. And then I came along as a surprise. My dad had a basement and the dining room addition put on. He had an electrician and plumber do what had to be done, and then he finished the interiors of both levels himself. I helped him make a slight change before I started high school. I wanted my closet area enclosed, so we moved the bathroom door and put in a walled area across the closet, creating a walk-in closet.”

Dave walked around the room looking at Kurt’s stuff. “It’s very you.”

“Thanks. It gives me room to dance and sew and it’s kind of like my own little apartment. I spend a lot of time in here.”

“You don’t have a bed?”

“Oh, that couch folds down into a queen-sized bed. I don’t really lie around in bed much, so when my dad said it was time for a new bed, I convinced him to let me get that instead. I’m more comfortable sitting on it and reading and watching stuff, plus when it’s in its couch form, it takes up less floor space than an actual bed and when it’s in its bed form, I get more room to stretch out than I would on a twin bed.

“I have a TV in my room. I’m not sure whether you noticed or not. So, I end up spending most of my time in my room too.”

“Your room is actually bigger than mine. I end up watching movies on my laptop a lot of the time because my dad and I don’t like the same shows. Dad bought me a Wii a couple of Christmases ago, which is a lot of fun to play. I know it’s not the kind of video game system most high school guys have, but I like it. It’s hooked up to the big TV in the living room. I usually play when he’s not home. Do you like any of the Wii games?”

“Sure. Wii Sports Resort has some fun games on it. And I love Mario games. I’d have to see what games you actually have to tell you whether I’ve played them and like them.”

Kurt smiled. “I have Wii Sports Resort and a couple of Mario games. You can look at them when we go back upstairs. What kind of books do you like to read?”

“It depends on my mood. I like some of the popular ones like _Harry Potter_ and _Artemis Fowl_ , but I also like biographies. Not all the time, but sometimes. It’s interesting to read about how someone lived a completely different life than I’ve ever experienced.”

“Well, you are full of surprises.” Kurt walked up to him. He put his hands on Dave’s shoulders and rose up on his toes and kissed him gently. “Still interested in being my boyfriend?”

Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt and pulled him close. “Most definitely.”

“Let’s talk some more. If you want something to drink I have a mini-fridge in the corner over there.”

“I’m fine for now, but thanks.” He sat down on the couch.

Kurt sat down on the end and pulled his feet up criss-cross and rotated so that his back was against the end of the couch. “Dating me is going to turn your life on end. I’ll understand if you want to change your mind and call it off after we talk and after our dads get together tonight. I can’t promise I’ll wait for you until after high school, but we can still be friends, even if you don’t want to date after tonight.”

“I know it’s going to be crazy. I don’t want to keep living a lie. It would be one thing if I were like a closeted loner nerd, no offense meant to nerds. I just mean that being a gay jock is really hard. Practically no professional sports players are out. So, either the gay ones are still in the closet hoping to never get outed or they gave up being a professional athlete and chose another career rather than deal with the hate.”

“Do you want to be a professional athlete?”

“I don’t know that I’m good enough, but I guess I had thought about being able to play hockey in college. Maybe get a hockey scholarship? But hockey’s really dangerous. Having people who hate you wearing the equivalent of sharp knife blades on their feet isn’t reassuring. And the rules in hockey allow players to be roughed a lot as it is. And a whole group of people being that rough intentionally all the time…” He shook his head. “I just don’t know.”

“And football?”

“I could play on the offensive line. I played in junior high. I don’t hate it or anything. Why did you join?”

“It was stupid. I was down here dancing with Britt and Tina and my dad caught me wearing a … anyway, he came down here because the music was loud and I made up something stupid about what I was wearing because I was embarrassed and Britt said that I was on the football team and that I was the kicker since I’m so small.”

Dave laughed.

“Yeah. It was hilarious. So, I got Finn to get Coach Tanaka to give me a chance. He helped me practice and I was decent at it surprisingly, considering I had never kicked a football in my life. So, when I kicked the field goal, Coach Tanaka gave me the position. And now, I’m the kicker. And most of the team is not thrilled. Maybe they’ll be a little better about now that we won last night, but that remains to be seen. It could go either way. They might be happy we won and ignore the fact that I’m gay. Or if they get teased about dancing with the fairy, they can decide to make me miserable enough that I’ll quit. I’ve found that there’s a lot of macho ‘pride’ in making sure a ‘fag’ never shows up a straight boy at something manly. I mostly joined to save face. I’m not interested in being put in my place. If the team is unhappy with a gay kicker who can actually make field goals, then I’ll quit the team Monday.”

“I think I really need to talk to Z.”

“You mentioned him earlier.”

“Yeah. He and I go way back. We’ve been friends for like 10 years. Seeing how he takes this will give me an indication of how the whole school will react because he’s at the top of the food chain. I know Hudson thinks he’s top dog, and he is in a way, but he’s a pansy according to most of the jocks because he doesn’t really join in on the bullying.”

“Do you want to invite him to your house this evening? If you told him with your dad there, maybe that would diffuse his potential anger.”

“It might, at least initially. I just don’t have a good feel for how he’s going to react. We’ve never been the type of friends that ran around naked or showered together or anything. I mean, I’ve seen him in the locker room. And I’ve seen him in his underwear, but he’s really not my type and he’s like my brother, so it’s just – no way. But I don’t think he’ll think I’ve been perving on him and threaten to beat me up for that. If anything, he’ll just walk away and say he’s not willing to deal with it.”

“I’d be glad to offer whatever support I can, if you want me to be there.”

“I’ll text him and see if he can come.” Dave pulled his phone out.

Kurt sat watching him. He was doing his best to hide the grin that kept trying to show itself. Dave looked up and looked at Kurt quizzically and raised an eyebrow.

“What?” Kurt asked.

“That’s what I was going to ask you. You’re the one staring at me and trying not to smile.”

“I’m just struggling to believe that you like me. It’s probably the mixture of the remnants of the killer hangover, the shock that there’s another gay guy my age and on top of that – he likes me.”

“Come closer.”

Kurt turned so his back was up against the back of the couch again and he scooted closer to Dave.

“Hmm. Not very convenient. Sit on my lap.”

“What?”

“Too hard?”

“No. I can do it. I’m very flexible.”

“Good to know.” Dave laughed.

Kurt turned red. “Shush.” He stood up and straddled Dave’s lap and sat down.

Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt’s back. “Put your hands on my shoulders.” He waited until Kurt did, and then he pulled Kurt toward him a little and kissed him. “Much better.” He deepened the kiss.

Kurt moved his hands from Dave’s shoulders to his neck and ran his fingers through the hair at the base of Dave’s neck. Eventually, they broke apart a bit for air. Kurt wiggled a little and laid his head on Dave’s shoulder and placed little kisses on his neck.

“Wow,” David said. He gently ran his hands slowly up and down Kurt’s back.

Kurt sat back up a bit and kissed Dave on the lips again. “Want to go make cookies to take to your house for tonight?”

“You bake?”

“Mm hmm.”

“Okay.” He kissed Kurt gently. “Let’s go make cookies, then.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt put Burt’s apron on Dave, and then put his own apron on. He preheated the oven and pulled out the ingredients they needed. They washed their hands. Kurt got the recipe card out and started to put things in the mixing bowl.

“Stir this.” He pushed the bowl of ingredients toward Dave. Kurt measured the chocolate chips and nuts out and had them waiting. “Now, we stir these in.” He pour them in slowly while Dave continued to stir.

Once the dough was ready, Kurt showed Dave how big to make the balls and they started filling up the cookie tray. Kurt put the first one in and they started prepping the second one. They pulled the first one out, put the second one in, and prepped the third tray while the first tray cooled enough to get the cookies off.

Kurt took the first one off and offered it to Dave. He opened his mouth and Kurt held the cookie for him to bite. He put the other half in his own mouth.

“Those are amazing.”

“Thanks.” He wiped down the first tray and they put the rest of the dough balls on the tray and put it in the oven when the third tray came out. Kurt put the cookies from the second tray in a separate bowl. Once the third batch had cooled, he added them to the container, and pulled the fourth batch out. He took one more warm cookie off the last cookie sheet and offered it to Dave again.

He opened his mouth and took a bite. “So good. Maybe you can bribe Z to not act like an ass about all of this with cookies. He has a huge sweet tooth.”

Kurt stepped closer and rose up on his toes and kissed Dave. “I could do that.”

Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt and picked him up and sat him on the counter and kept kissing him. They heard the front door open and Dave stepped back and Kurt hopped down.

“I smell cookies,” Burt said as he came around the corner into the kitchen.

“Yeah, I thought it would be nice to take something with us to Dave’s house tonight. His dad is ordering pizza. I thought we’d make cookies for dessert.”

“Good idea. Do I get a sample?”

“Sure, Dad.” Kurt handed him one of the warm cookies.

He stuffed the whole thing in his mouth. “These are my favorites.”

“That’s why I made them. I’m packing most of them up to take with us, but I put one batch in a bowl to keep here for you.”

“Thanks, kiddo. I’m going to go shower and change.” Burt headed back toward the hallway and then up the stairs.

Kurt put the cookie sheets next to the sink and ran some dishwater to wash everything. “So, will most of your family disown you?”

“I don’t think so. It’s mostly my dad’s family that lives around here. None of them are overly religious. Some of them might have been more prejudiced when they were younger, but most of them are live and let live types. But my mom’s family will definitely disown me, and my dad too. They mostly live in Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. My dad went to law school in Pittsburgh and that’s where he met my mom. I’m imagining that she’ll move back there. She’ll probably move back in with her parents and take care of them. They were talking about my grandmother maybe needing a caregiver or needing to move her to a nursing home. My mom is the baby of the family. So, all of my cousins on her side are quite a bit older than me since she didn’t have me until she was 28. Her mom is 80.” Dave looked around for a towel and started drying the cookie sheets.

Kurt let the soapy water out, dried his hands, and started putting the ingredients back away. He looked around to make sure nothing was out still. He saw the oven was still on and turned it off.

“So, I guess there’s an upside to a messed up situation. If she goes back to Pennsylvania, your grandmother won’t have to go to a nursing home as soon.”

“Yeah. I feel bad for my dad though. I know he loves my mom. She wasn’t always this militant about her beliefs from what he said. It’s the pastor that came to the church about 10 years ago, I guess. He’s very intolerant and bigoted. I quit going when I was 12. My dad said I could choose and I chose not to go.”

“So, the fact that I’m agnostic at best, but more likely atheist, isn’t going to bother you?” He took the apron off that Dave was wearing and hung it up with his.

“No.”

“Good. I never really talk about it because I honestly never thought I’d find anyone who wanted to date me here. And as far as casual conversation goes, I’m in the minority here, so I just keep my opinion on the topic to myself.” He put the lid on the smaller bowl of cookies and put it in the cabinet. He felt a little warmth still radiating out of the other bowl and left the lid off. “Want to play Mario Kart or Wii bowling or something?”

“Sure.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“I changed my mind, if that’s okay. I want to talk a little more before we go to your house.” Kurt sat back down on the couch.

“Okay.” Dave sat next to him.

“When you think of the word ‘boyfriend’ or ‘dating’ what do you think of? What do you envision doing with a boyfriend?”

“Well, the kissing is nice.”

Kurt rolled his eyes.

Dave laughed. “Um, I guess just the regular stuff. Someone to talk to. Someone to do things with. I liked the snuggling earlier. That was nice. Making cookies together was fun.”

“So, you’d go places with me?”

“Sure. Like where?”

“I don’t know. There have to be some at least somewhat interesting places to see in Ohio. Parks, lakes, museums, zoos, and things like that.”

“Oh. Well, yeah. Those things sound interesting. I haven’t been to many museums or zoos. I’ve been to more lakes since my dad has the boat.”

“So, you’d enjoy going on picnics and hikes and stuff.”

“Sure.”

“And you’re being honest with me, right? Please don’t just tell me something because you think it’s the answer I want to hear. I don’t want to plan something and have it totally bomb because you weren’t truthful with me.”

“I would totally do those things with you. I don’t just want to find a fuck buddy. I could probably advertise on Craig’s List or get a fake ID and go to a gay bar for that. I really like you.”

“Okay. I believe you.”

“Seriously, if that’s all I wanted, I wouldn’t have come out to my dad this morning or to you. I would just drive to Toledo or Columbus and find guys there to hook up with anonymously. I’m plenty burly enough to pass for older. I could not shave for two days and totally not be questioned going into a bar.”

“Whereas I look like an 11-year old milk maid.”

“Who said that?”

“Not important.”

“Well, it’s not true. I wouldn’t think you were sexy if you looked like an 11-year old milk maid. Yuck. Sure, you look younger than me right now because I have facial hair and you don’t, but that doesn’t make you less attractive to me. I mean some grown men can’t grow beards. Doesn’t make them less of a man. I’m assuming you’re still going to grow more at some point. Your dad is as tall as I am. But even if you don’t grow much more, it’s fine.”

“So, this is a personal question. Earlier you said that Z isn’t your type. What’s your type?”

“Umm. Snarky, sassy, bitchy diva?”

Kurt play slapped him.

“With gorgeous blue eyes and a killer ass.”

Kurt rolled his eyes.

“I’m not sure what you want me to say. I’m not into big muscle guys who look like me. I like you. You’re funny and smart. A bit of a smartass. I like watching you dance and sing. All I can say is that it’s a good thing I was sitting in the top bleachers giving me time to wait for everyone to leave after you all did ‘Push It’.”

Kurt blushed.

“And I came to watch the Invitationals. Let’s just say I never thought I liked cowboys until I saw you strutting around the stage in that outfit. I think you should borrow those sometime and we can go line dancing.” He leaned over and kissed Kurt. “You are the sexiest cowboy I have ever seen.”

Burt called down from the top of the stairs, “You boys ready to go?”

“Yeah, Dad. We just need to put our shoes on. We’ll be right back up.” Kurt stood up, looked right at Dave, and winked. “I have those clothes in my closet.”

He stood up and followed Kurt back down the stairs to get his shoes. They grabbed their shoes and put them on and headed upstairs, but he grabbed Kurt’s hand on the landing and kissed him. “Maybe you can give me my own show next time I come over.” He leaned down and kissed Kurt once more before he let go of his hand and they went the rest of the way up the stairs.

“Let me grab the cookies.” Kurt darted in the kitchen, fastened the lid, and came right back out.

Dave had stepped into the garage waiting for him. Kurt turned the lock and pulled the door shut. He turned around to find Dave waiting right behind him. With Kurt standing on the step, they were eye to eye. Dave kissed him gently.

“Let’s go.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They pulled up in Dave’s driveway and he saw Burt get out of his truck.

“I didn’t realize your dad had driven my truck to your house.”

“Me neither. I guess it’s fixed now.”

“Looks like.”

They got out and headed inside. Paul opened the door right as they were stepping up onto the porch.

“Come on in.”

“Thanks for bringing Dave’s truck back.”

“No problem. You can just stop by Monday and settle up the bill. I got everything running smooth again.”

“The pizzas should be here pretty soon.”

“Hey, Dad?” Dave said.

“Yeah?”

“I invited Z over in about a half-hour. I want to tell him, but not alone. I’m not sure how he’s going to take it and I figured I needed to get it out of the way before rumors start to spread. He’s been my best friend for 10 years. Even if he dumps me, I’d rather tell him face to face than have him find out from someone else.”

“No problem. I ordered plenty of pizza.”

“We made cookies at Kurt’s, so we have dessert too. They’re good. I sampled one.”

“Just one?”

“Just the one,” Dave laughed.

“Hey, I only got one,” Burt said. “We’re even.”

The pizza delivery guy pulled up before Paul even got the door shut. Dave showed everyone to the dining room and Paul wasn’t far behind him with the stack of pizzas. He put them down on the table.

“Grab some drinks, Dave.”

“Yeah, sure.” He went in the kitchen and came back out with a variety of cans of soda and put them on the table. He went back in the kitchen and brought out a stack of paper plates and napkins and put them in the middle of the table. He sat next to Kurt.

Paul had unstacked the pizzas and set them single layer at the other end of the table. “Help yourselves.”

Everyone got up and grabbed a few slices. The doorbell rang and Dave went to let Azimio in. He followed him into the dining room and stopped, looking really confused.

“Have some pizza Z.”

“Yeah. I’ll do that.” He grabbed a paper plate and several slices of pizza and sat down next to Dave.

Dave gave him time to eat one of the slices before he started to talk. “I know you’re confused. I invited you here because you’re my best friend Z. We’ve been friends since forever.”

“Yeah. If this is about you being gay, I already knew that. I knew you had a crush on Hummel there since like we started high school, dude. The first day you saw him, you looked like … well, let’s say you didn’t hide it very well. I mean, you got it under control and all, but I was there. I wondered how long it was going to take you to tell me – and him. Looks like you finally got around to it.”

“Yeah.”

Azimio laughed at him. “Dude, I’m happy for you.” He leaned forward and looked at Kurt. “Hey, Hummel, will you hook me up with Mercedes? She is FINE.”

Kurt snorted. “Well, Azimio, she won’t date a bully. She’s going to tell you the same thing I told Dave. No more slushies, no more hassling the Glee kids.”

“Hummel, if you can get her to go out with me, I will JOIN Glee my damn self.”

Kurt laughed. “Can you sing Azimio?”

“Can I sing?” He rolled his eyes. He started to sing.

_Oh, her eyes, her eyes make the stars look like they’re not shining_  
_Her hair her hair falls perfectly without her trying_  
_She’s so beautiful and I tell her every day_  
_Yeah, I know, I know when I compliment her she won’t believe me_  
_And its’ so, it’s so sad to think that she don’t see what I see._  
_…_  
_When I see your face_  
_There’s not a thing that I would change_  
_‘Cause you’re amazing_  
_Just the way you are._

Kurt interrupted him. “Fine, fine. You can sing. You can stop. I’ll see what I can do.”

“You do that. I’ll sing that song for her for my audition.”

Kurt laughed. “This is not how I had imagined that this would go.”

“I suppose not,” Azimio said. “But she’s damn fine.”

“Are you going to treat her right? You know she’s not some floozy.”

“Oh, I know. I’ll treat her like the queen she is. Trust me.”

“So, we’re okay?” Dave asked.

“We’re fine, dude. I don’t care who you like. Well, I mean, I care, but I don’t care that it’s Hummel.”

“No more slushies,” Kurt said resolutely.

“Yeah. It’s stupid. Last year the seniors made us do it like hazing since we were freshman. But they’re gone now and there’s enough of us sophomores to take the juniors and seniors. We’re as big as they are. And a quarter of the football team is already in Glee.”

“And the dumpster tosses?”

“Yeah, I’ll put an end to that,” Azimio said. “That’s the puckheads mostly, and Puck.”

“Yeah, well, he’s quit thankfully,” Kurt said. “But the others haven’t.”

“Well, I’ll make sure that changes. There’s going to be a coup and a regime change. I want a truck. And I know for damn sure if my momma finds out I’ve been slushying people, she’ll make sure I’m walking everywhere until I graduate.”

Kurt laughed.

“Yeah, you got that fine machine sitting the driveway out there. You can laugh all you want. But I had to get my momma to drive me over here. I get all B’s at midterm and I’m getting a truck. I’ll be studying so hard, Hummel, I’ll be making you look like a slacker.”

“You didn’t even have to bribe him,” Dave said, looking at Kurt.

“Now, wait. Y’all had some kind of offer I didn’t hear?”

“You’re the one that set the terms. You said I had to try to get Mercedes to go out with you. It will have to be a double date the first time. You know that, right? She’s not going to just willingly get in a car with you and go somewhere. And you just admitted you don’t have a truck yet.”

“Yeah, yeah. We’ll take your killer ride. Double date, but I pick the place and it ain’t going to be Breadstix.”

“We’ll talk about arrangements later. Dave has to be willing for Mercedes to know in order for it to be a double date.”

“A’ight. We’ll work on it.” He got up and helped himself to more pizza. “What movie we watching?”

“Kurt’s picking.”

“Whatever, dude. I get whatever it was you were going to bribe me with if it’s some foreign film that I gotta read the subtitles for.”

“Just eat, you Neanderthal,” Kurt said.

“You say that with such love.” Azimio blew him a kiss and cackled.

Kurt just shook his head.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

A half-hour later, the leftover pizza was in the freezer, and the five of them had moved to the den. Burt and Paul took the two recliners and the three teens sat on the couch and watched the first _Transformers_ movie. When it was over, Paul and Burt moved to the living room to talk.

“Pass those cookies back this way, you pig,” Azimio said.

Dave handed him the bowl of cookies.

“You could rule the world with these, Hummel.”

“I’d settle for a pleasant high school experience until I graduate.”

“We can work on that.”

“And how about you call me ‘Kurt’?”

“Nah. I only call Dave by his first name and that’s cause he’s special.” Azimio batted his eyes at Dave.

Dave punched him in the arm. “Shut up, Z.”

“Call me by my first name and I’ll make you brownies and bring them Monday morning.”

“Homemade brownies, like not from the store or a box?”

“Homemade. No store, no box.”

“Deal. You bring them and I’ll call you Kurt, but only to your face. I’m still calling you Hummel like the rest of the team when you’re not around.”

“Fine.”

“I haven’t decided when I’m telling anyone else, Z.”

“I got it man. You told your dad. You told Hummel. You told Hummel’s dad and that took balls. Hummel’s dad is scary.”

Kurt laughed. “My dad’s a teddy bear.”

“To you. To the rest of us, he’s a grizzly bear that would rather tear us limb from limb than to see a scratch on you. I can’t believe you never ratted any of us out.”

“I don’t want my dad fighting my battles. It’s not his fault I’m gay.”

“I respect that, dude. But your dad is still scary as hell. I was NOT part of nailing your furniture on your roof. I told them if they got caught, we wouldn’t see them until they were too old to recognize.”

“Didn’t keep them from doing it. Cost my dad a small fortune, which we could not afford. Nearly a year’s worth of college tuition to replace our roof.”

“It was about half the team that did it. Mostly junior and seniors. I could tell your dad.”

“Maybe you should just send the list anonymously to the house. Type it up on a typewriter somewhere and mail it.”

“Good idea.”

“So, what about your mom?” Azimio asked.

“She’s more than likely going to move out. I’m not sure if we’ll end up moving. Dad might look for a smaller house since it will just be the two of us. I don’t know though.”

“That sucks.”

“Yeah, well you know how things have gone.”

“Yeah, after that new pastor came, all the black folks left the church.”

“Did no one ever bother to explain to him that Jesus was more than likely dark skinned? Has he ever looked on a map to see where Israel even is? The Middle East? They aren’t exactly white like me.”

“Yeah, I never really heard anything he had to say. I just know that the church is all white when it used to be mixed.”

Dave suggested, “Stick around long enough for Mercedes to see you at church tomorrow morning. You’ll make your momma happy and you can get a head start on your reformed bad boy persona with Mercedes.”

“Nah, that’ll make me look all desperate and shit.”

“Your choice, dude.” Dave elbowed him in the ribs.

“Hey, just ‘cause you got up the nerve to tell Hummel first don’t mean you get to beat on me.”

“You’re already there every Sunday morning. Just stick around five extra minutes or show up on time and she’ll see you sitting with your momma instead sneaking out of the back pew during the final prayer.”

“I’ll think about it. I gotta go. My phone just buzzed. That means my momma’s out front.”

“Don’t say anything to anyone.”

“I’m not saying nothing to nobody. It ain’t none of my business. You just tell me when you decide to let other people know and I’ll have your back. You too, Hummel. And I’ll get those losers to stop slushying the Glee Club and no more dumpster dives.”

“Thanks, Azimio.”

He just nodded and left.

“So, that went better than I had expected it to. I see why you like him. He’s funny.” Kurt scooted closer to Dave and offered his hand.

Dave took it and interlaced their fingers. “He is funny. I’m hoping the two of you can get along. Maybe Mercedes will like him.”

“Maybe. He’s going to have to prove himself though.”

“Like me.”

“You apologized and meant it. I know that all of this is hard on you. I’m going to give you a chance. Today has been a lot of fun.”

“I think so too.” He reached up and ran his finger along Kurt’s jaw and turned his face and leaned over and kissed him.

“I wonder what our dads are talking about.”

“I don’t know. I figure my dad’s pretty upset about my mom’s imminent departure. They’ve been married a long time. He’s going to miss her and he’s going to be a single dad all of a sudden. I’m not trying to be melodramatic, but for us it will be like her dying. She seriously will not have anything to do with me unless I repent and go through the counseling.”

“It’s terrible. It’s got to be hard for both of you tonight knowing that the instant she finds out that it’s over.”

“I can’t live a lie anymore. It’s just gotten too hard. I can’t keep listening to her say things about me without realizing that they’re about me. It makes me hate myself for not being able to change and hate myself for hiding who I am. ”

“I wish I could say something that would make this better. All I can do is be here for you.”

“That’s more than I had thought would be possible.”

Kurt squeezed his hand.


	2. Chapter 2

Dave pulled Kurt’s hand up to his mouth and kissed his knuckles and put his hand back down so their hands were on his thigh.

“Do you want to watch another movie or we could go up to my room and play a game.”

“Let’s go play a game. That way we can still talk.”

“Sure.” Dave stood up, but didn’t let go of Kurt’s hand.

They walked back upstairs still holding hands. He let Kurt step inside first so he could close the door behind them.

“So, what games do you have?”

“Video games or board games?”

“Board games or card games. I’m not in the mood to have to try to learn all of the right buttons to press, but you can teach me some time. I’m actually pretty worn out from the massive hangover earlier.” He turned and rose up on his toes and kissed Dave quickly. “Thanks for bringing me here and keeping me safe. That really means a lot to me.”

“You’re welcome.” He leaned down and kissed Kurt. He walked toward a shelf. “Here’s what I have.”

“Hmm.” Kurt looked through the stack. “How about Battleship? That’s easy enough to hold a conversation while we play it. Or we could play Uno. That doesn’t require enormous amounts of concentration like Risk, which I actually really like, but I’m not ready to strategize that much right now.”

Dave grabbed both games. “I haven’t played either one in ages. Where do you want to play?”

“Do you have a TV tray or something? One of us could sit in that chair by the window and the other could sit in your desk chair.”

“I’ll go down to the den and bring up one of the TV tables. I’ll be right back.”

Kurt moved the desk chair closer to the corner while he was gone. Dave popped the table up into position and Kurt pushed the desk chair in place. Then he turned the table lengthwise between the chairs and sat down. Dave grabbed the games and put them on his bed. He took the two parts out of the box and handed one to Kurt, and then sat down in the chair. They both began positioning their ships on the grid.

“I chose the game. You go first.”

“C-8.”

“Miss. D-10.”

“Miss. F-3.”

Kurt slipped his right foot towards Dave’s left foot, which he had extended along side the table. He gently put his foot over the top of Dave’s, who startled a bit, and then smiled. They went back and forth guessing locations and playing footsie until Paul knocked on the door lightly.

“Come in,” Dave called out.

Paul came in with Burt right behind him. Burt nearly laughed out loud to find Kurt playing a board game with Dave.

“Who’s winning,” Burt asked.

“Me, but only by one hit,” Kurt said.

“Well, when you two finish that game, come downstairs so we can talk.”

“Okay,” Dave said.

Burt was suppressing laughter still as he turned and walked back out of the room with Paul following him.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“So who was victorious?” Paul asked as Kurt and Dave came into the den.

“I was, but just by the one hit advantage I had when you two came in,” Kurt said. “He found his last ship on his next turn. So, we just went back and forth and I came out ahead by one shot.”

Kurt and Dave plopped down next to each other on the couch.

“So, all of this is really new for all four of us,” Burt started. “Earlier today, Kurt reminded me that both of you are of age and that the safest places for you two to be yourselves is in your own homes.”

Paul cut in. “Burt and I talked about Kurt’s statement and we reluctantly agree with him. Not reluctantly because we disagree with something he said, but just because we’re each dealing with our kid dating for the first time.

“Paul and I know that Dave’s been doing things at school that he shouldn’t have, but neither of us has the right to come down on him for it because by all accounts, what Dave’s done is not as bad as some of the things that we did when we were young and stupid.”

Dave nodded. “I’m done with that though. I’m not going to slushie anyone anymore and I’ll stop the other stuff too. The seniors that told us that they’d get us kicked off the hockey team are gone obviously. And if the upperclassmen attempt to bully the underclassmen, I’ll just quit hockey. I really do like to play, but not enough to keep feeling the way I do about the things I’ve done. I may join the football team though.”

“Whatever sport you want to play is fine with me. Or if you don’t want to play any sport, that’s fine too.”

“That goes for you too, Kurt. I know you joined the football team to make me happy. I don’t need you to play football to be happy. I want you to enjoy whatever school thing you want to be in. I know you like Glee Club. I’ll come watch you sing, just like I did when you sang in middle school. I don’t have to enjoy doing what you do to be proud of you doing your best at what you love to do.”

Kurt nodded.

“So, we talked quite a bit,” Paul said. “The two of you are welcome to spend time here or at the Hummel’s. We’re going to ask you to keep your contact to a PG level in common areas of the houses. If and when you move past the PG level of contact in your relationship, we’ll expect you to keep that in your rooms.”

“Kurt asked me to be mature about this. That’s why we’re talking to you. We’re willing to give you both the opportunity to behave in a mature way. As long as you do that, the guidelines will remain loose the way they are now.”

Both teens nodded.

Kurt asked, “Can you be specific about what you consider to be PG?”

“More than likely it’s the type of things the two of you see at school all the time – handholding, snuggling, hugging, and kissing within limits. If it would make you uncomfortable to watch someone else do it, then it’s probably not PG. I’m sure you’ve seen couples that go too far in a public place.”

Kurt nodded.

Paul added, “Just consider our common areas in our homes to be public in that sense. We want you to feel comfortable, but we also want to feel comfortable in our own homes. And we’ll cut you slack and you’ll cut us slack. It’s not like we’re going to just wake up tomorrow morning and feel completely at ease seeing our kid kissing someone.”

“One thing you’ll learn as you get older is that somehow time seems to speed up the older you get. So, for the two of you, it seems like it’s been forever since someone needed to do things for you like cut up your food or help you tie your shoes. But for us, it seems like it wasn’t that long ago.”

“We get it, Dad. I do have just one question.”

“Okay.”

“Sitting in Dave’s lap. Where does that fall?”

“Demonstrate what you mean.”

Kurt had Dave scoot over just a little, turn slightly, and put his leg along the back edge of the couch. Kurt sat down in the space between David’s legs and reclined a little, leaning back on Dave’s chest. “Like this or…” Kurt rearranged Dave again, getting him to put both feet back on the floor in front of him and scooting back toward the center about a foot. Kurt sat in the tiny space and put his legs over Dave’s lap. “Like this.”

Burt responded, “I don’t have an issue with either of those.”

“Me neither.”

Kurt nodded. “Okay.” He stayed sitting where he was.

“So, tomorrow, Dave will be heading to your house to spend the day. He’ll take an overnight bag with him and I’ll text him some time tomorrow evening to let him know whether to stay or to come home.”

“We’re assuming that both of you still have some schoolwork to do this weekend since there was a game and party last night and neither of you did any schoolwork today. So, we’ll expect that to be done at some point tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Dave said. “That’s fine. I don’t have any plans to start being a slacker on my schoolwork. Maybe with Kurt’s help, I can finally get my constant B+ in French up to an A- or an A. He’s a year ahead of me in French.”

Paul laughed. “I know how aggravated you were about that last year.”

“Sooo frustrating,” Dave rolled his eyes.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Kurt teased.

“Next weekend, the four of us are going to take the boat out to the lake Saturday morning and go camping, so try to do a little extra work each day if you have to so we can all have fun and neither of you has to sit around writing a paper or doing endless math problems.”

Both teens nodded.

“I can’t think of anything else.” Burt stood up.

Paul followed suit. “We’ll leave the two of you to go play another game or whatever. We’re going to watch that _Deadliest Catch_ episode I missed yesterday. I recorded it.”

“Okay, Dad,” Dave said.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“So, your dad seems to be taking this well considering he had no idea until this morning.”

“He really is. Draw two.”

Kurt huffed and took two cards from the draw pile. “Fine. Your turn again.”

Dave laid a card down. Kurt matched the color and play continued.

“Does your dad have a girlfriend?”

“No. He hasn’t dated since my mom died.”

“Oh.”

“It’s just the two of us. Well, we used to spend holidays with my aunt Mildred, who is my dad’s sister, but she moved to Arkansas about five years ago and we haven’t seen her since. She sends a Christmas card. They weren’t close, but I’m pretty sure that she doesn’t like me because I’m gay. She would make little comments about me taking piano lessons instead of playing baseball and stuff like that.”

“What do you want to do when you graduate?”

“Go to college or at least move out of Lima. If I don’t go to college, I’ll probably try to find a job in a garage somewhere that’s more gay-friendly and save up and buy a house. I want to get a dog some day. Dad likes dogs, but he doesn’t want one in the house. I’ve always wanted one.”

“What about you?” He laid a Wild Draw Four card down and before it touched the pile he said, “Uno. Red.”

Dave just laughed. “You win.”

“Are we keeping track of points? So, it can be a running match?”

“Um, sure.” He picked up the four cards and counted the total for his hand. 37. Ugh. You got me good because I had a Wild Card in my hand.”

Kurt pulled his phone out and made a note and put – Kurt 37 – on the first line and smiled. “Do you want to play again now or just talk?”

“Let’s lie on my bed and talk.”

“Okay.” Kurt put the cards back in the box and put it back on the shelf where it had been. He pushed the chair back up to Dave’s desk.

Dave pushed the TV table closer to the window to get it out of the way. “I’ll put it back downstairs later.”

They both lay in Dave’s bed. Dave got back up and turned the side lamp on and turned the overhead light off.

Kurt reached for Dave’s hand. “I can’t thank you enough for keeping me safe last night. Something really awful could have happened to me.”

“That’s not why you agreed to go out with me is it? You’re not just doing this because you think you owe me are you?”

“No.”

“Okay. Good. I’d feel terrible if I found out that you didn’t like me at all and you only said yes because you felt obligated.”

“When you apologized for the slushying and stuff, I could see that you meant it. And you are cute. I would just never have allowed myself to think about it because I thought you were straight. I’m assuming that Azimio was serious about me setting him up with Mercedes.”

“Oh, yeah. He’s got it bad for her. He thinks she’s the most gorgeous girl in the whole school, but she scares the everliving crap out of him. He’s too nervous to ask her out.”

“Well, his role in the slushying losers would be enough to make him afraid to ask her out. He better be good at apologizing because otherwise, it’s going to be impossible to get her to say yes.”

“What about a coffee date or something?”

“The biggest issue is her knowing about you and about us. She’s my best friend, but 16-year old girls love to gossip. I guess I just want to know if you have some ‘coming out’ plan. Like, are you thinking of the ‘go big’ option where we just walk into school Monday morning holding hands? Or are you thinking of the ‘one person at a time’ option? Or are you just going to wait for a while, which is okay too. I just need to know so that I don’t give us away by doing something that potentially outs you.”

“I guess sort of a combination of the first two. I told my dad, I told you, I told your dad, I told Z. I think we’ll tell Mercedes next since she’s your best friend. Then, maybe Monday after school Z and I could join Glee Club and I’ll sit with you and be obvious without being over the top. Like I could put my arm around your chair. Most of the guys in there are on the football team with Z, except Artie. So, once they find out, it won’t take long.”

“I guess that plan depends on whether or not Azimio has had time to confront the younger jocks and persuade them to stop following in the footsteps of their bullying predecessors.”

“That’s true. I think we need to try to meet with Z and Mercedes tomorrow. Your house? I’ll have to go pick Z up.”

“Okay. I’ll make a black forest cake. Mercedes loves them. And you said that Azimio has a sweet tooth.”

“Sounds like a plan.” He rolled on his side.

Kurt felt the bed move and matched Dave’s move so that they were lying facing each other.

“This feels like a dream. I’ve dreamt this exact thing so many times. That you would be my friend and my boyfriend and that we’d just lie here and talk to each other. It was a happy dream, but then I’d wake up and cry because I didn’t think I’d ever get the nerve up to tell you. Or that by the time I did, you would have found someone else more like you that you’d be pining after – and I’d be that bully you hated.”

Kurt reached over and put his hand on Dave’s shoulder at the point where his hand was half on Dave’s shoulder and half on his neck. He ran his thumb along Dave’s jawbone. “I don’t hate you. And I accepted your apology this morning. You don’t need to apologize anymore. What’s done is done and is over with. We have today and whatever we face in the future, which maybe very hard. But it already feels less scary if you’re going to be by my side.” He scooted forward just enough that they could kiss.

“I’m never going to get tired of that.”

“Is that so?”

“It is, Fancy.”

“I’m really tired. Would you be offended if I just turn over to rest? I’m never, ever eating jello that I didn’t make myself.”

Dave laughed. “It’s fine. Can I snuggle you, like I’ll be the big spoon?”

“Sure. That’s how we were when I woke up this morning.” Kurt turned over and faced away from Dave.

Dave got up and grabbed a throw blanket off the back of the chair in the corner and covered Kurt up and lay down behind him. “Do you want me to turn off the light?”

“It’s okay. It’s not that bright. I’m just going to rest my eyes for a few minutes. You can scoot closer, like you were this morning.”

“That wasn’t on purpose. I ended up like that in my sleep.”

“It was cozy.”

Dave scooted closer and wrapped his arm over the blanket. Kurt moved his arm a bit and got comfortable and interlaced his fingers with Dave’s.

About 30 minutes later, Burt and Paul stepped into the room and didn’t bother knocking since the door was completely open. They found them asleep with Dave’s arm wrapped around Kurt. They stepped out into the hallway. Paul went back downstairs and Burt followed him. He sat down at the table in the dining room. Burt sat as well.

“This has been a hard day. I won’t lie,” Paul said. “But I haven’t see David smile so much in I couldn’t even tell you when. I knew something was bothering him, but I didn’t know what. I can’t even imagine how hard it has been to live hearing his mother say all of those things about gay people. I’m surprisingly okay with finding them like that. Deep down David is really this sweet guy, but jocks don’t like sweet. He toughened up to fit in, but like I said, he’s been unhappy for so long that the slow descent into misery sort of blinded me to just how miserable he was. The only thing I’ve seen him do recently with Z is watch violent movies, work out, and play pretty violent video games. Things where he could let out that pent up frustration. Finding them playing Battleship earlier – that transported me back a few years. I can’t say that I’m just going to wake up tomorrow and be excited that he’s gay because being gay in a culture that doesn’t accept it won’t make his life easy. But seeing him today with Kurt, that was enlightening to say the least. He’s obviously completely smitten with Kurt. He can’t keep the smile hidden. I want that for him. I want him to be happy.”

“I get it. I’ve known since Kurt was a toddler. His mother never pushed gender roles on him. He would listen to her read fairy tales and he would talk about finding his prince one day. He’s known his whole life. He just quit talking about it as he got older and realized that all of the other boys liked girls. I just tried to give him time to come to terms with it and come to me on his own. I don’t know if that was the right thing to do. I don’t know if it’s the right thing to do to let them sleep together like that. But they’re fully clothed and they look so peaceful. In a world that has so many people who despise them, it seems reasonable to let them have that with each other. And I can guarantee that I did not get up this morning with any notion of letting my teenage son spend the night with a guy. I think that I still have some messed up ideas about gay guys. I always felt like Kurt was so small that he was sort of girly and he came down on me at the shop, like I told you. Honestly, seeing them like that makes me realize how alone Kurt’s been. I let him take over Lizzie’s role in our family. He’s been the one taking care of me. Seeing him being held makes me realize how I let him down in the physical touch aspect.”

“Martha is very affectionate with David. She’s always been big on hugging and doing things like ruffling his hair and putting her hand on his arm when she talks to him. So, I know what you mean about Kurt missing out on that with his own mom.”

“Yeah, and I’m just not that good with it. I mean I was with Lizzie, but when Kurt got a little bigger, I just let the ball drop. So, I’m just going to do what I never thought I’d do. I’m just going to leave him here and let you send him to our place with Dave in the morning. I know he doesn’t have anything to change into tomorrow morning, but it won’t kill him to wait until he gets home to shower and change.”

Paul nodded.

“I wish I had something to say that would make tomorrow better for you and David, but I don’t think there are any words that can do that.”

“Thanks.”

Burt stood up and Paul followed him to the front door. Paul turned the porch light on long enough for Burt to see to get in the Navigator. He shut and locked the door and tried to steel himself to face the next day.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

A few hours later, Kurt woke up. “Dave?”

“Hmm?”

“What time is it?”

“Umm. I don’t know.” He rolled onto his back and reached for his phone. “2:03.”

“I’ll be right back.” Kurt used the bathroom and then went downstairs quietly. All the lights were out and it was weird being in someone else’s house in the dark, but he looked out the living room window and saw that his Navigator wasn’t in the driveway. He went back upstairs and sat on the edge of the bed. “My dad’s not here.”

“They must have found us asleep and decided not to wake you up.”

“This is so weird.” He yawned. “Do you have anything I can sleep in besides my clothes? I slept in skinny jeans last night. I don’t want to do it again.”

Dave got up and opened his closet. He opened a box of clothes on the floor and looked through it. He pulled out some sleep pants and an old t-shirt. “How about these?”

Kurt looked. “Perfect.” He got up and took them from Dave and went back into the bathroom and changed. When he came out, he laid his clothes over the back of Dave’s desk chair. “Thank you. You can change too. I’m just going to lie back down.” Kurt folded the throw and put it back on the chair. He went back around the bed and pulled the covers down and got in the bed.

Dave came out of the bathroom and saw Kurt lying in his bed looking so content and relaxed that he just shook his head and laughed a little.

Kurt opened his eyes. “What’s funny?”

“This whole situation. There you are looking completely adorable in my old clothes, lying in my bed looking completely content about that. This is the kind of thing that only happens in dreams for guys like me. It’s just super hard to believe this is real.”

“I get that. But it’s real. Get back in bed with me and snuggle me. I’m tired.”

“I’ll get right on that, Fancy.” He laughed. “You’re awfully bossy.”

“You did say your type was – what was it? Snarky, sassy, bitchy diva, with gorgeous blue eyes and a killer ass. Something like that. You knew what you were getting into.”

Dave laughed. “God, you’re adorable.”

“Snuggles.”

Dave turned the light off and got in the bed. He lay on his side and Kurt scooted back to close the gap between them. Dave pulled the comforter up over their shoulders. Kurt reached back and found Dave’s arm and pulled it around him and interlaced their fingers again.

“I think I’ll go through that box of clothes again and put the pajamas back in my drawer.”

“Good idea. They’re cozy and soft and all broken-in perfectly.”

Dave laughed. “You’re something, you know.”

“Umm hmm. I know.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt woke up first the next morning. He very carefully turned over so that he could look at Dave. He could see the stubble on his cheeks and the waves in Dave’s hair. If Dave let it grow out at all, it would be curly or at least really wavy. Dave’s eye’s opened slowly and he stared straight into Kurt’s.

“Are you watching me sleep?”

“What if I answer yes?”

“I’d wonder why.”

“You’re really cute, you know. You looked so peaceful. You were just barely smiling. You just looked really sweet. I was just trying to see who you really are without the mask of bravado and idiot jock on.”

“Well, I tossed that mask yesterday. No more need to hide. That wasn’t me. I hated that version of myself.”

“I was also thinking. I honestly can’t remember a time when you slushied me personally. I mean I’ve seen you slushie Rachel and some of the other so-called bottom feeders. I don’t actually recall Azimio slushying me either. Puck, Strando, other jocks, yeah, but the two of you never went after me personally.”

“That’s true. I avoided being the one to have to slushie you. I’d give excuses about getting someone later or whatever. I didn’t want to do it to anyone, but I just couldn’t make myself do it to you. Even the tiniest bit of hope that I’d eventually tell you kept me from it. I had the grape slushie in my hand the other day to throw at Hudson. But when I got close enough to do it, I just kept walking. I was going to hassle him about getting Quinn pregnant. But that’s so stupid. I’m sure her life is going to be as bad as mine. Her parents go to the same type of church my mom does - judgmental. I can bet you that when they find out that she’s pregnant that her dad will throw her out.”

“That’s awful. Where will she go? Who throws a 15-year old pregnant girl out?”

“People like the ones that go to church with my mom. I just walked by. I threw it at JBI. Not my finest moment, but that’s going to change too. I won’t do it anymore.”

“Okay. I believe you.” Kurt gently put his hand on Dave’s cheek. “Things are going to be different. Are you and Azimio really going to join Glee Club?”

“I will, just to spend more time with you. I like to sing. I sang in the kid’s choir at church before I quit going.”

“Can you dance?”

“I guess that’s a matter of opinion, but I can’t be any worse at it than Hudson, right?”

Kurt laughed. “I suppose that’s true. Plus, we could do yoga together and I can help you get more flexible and we can work on the choreography together.”

“Yoga? I can’t even touch my toes.”

“Well, we’ll work on that. Let’s go downstairs and make breakfast.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Paul walked in the kitchen just in time to see Kurt smear pancake batter on the tip of Dave’s nose. He laughed out loud, which made Kurt jump back.

“It’s fine, Kurt. I just haven’t see him act silly in so long that he caught me off guard. I see that we’re having pancakes. Sounds good.”

“Help yourself. I’m making more.” Kurt turned and flipped the ones in the skillet.

Paul and Dave put some on plates and put them on the table. Dave came back and opened the fridge and took a carton of orange juice and the milk jug to the table. Paul grabbed three glasses and went back and sat down. Kurt plated the pancakes from the skillet and turned the stove off. He grabbed the syrup that was on the counter and went and sat down with the other two.

“Sorry there’s not much to make this morning. I was going to go to the store yesterday, but never made it. When you stay over the next time, there will be more of a selection.” Paul put syrup on his and took a bite. “These are good. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Sorry I fell asleep last night. I’m assuming Dad came up to get me and found me asleep and decided to just leave me.”

“Yeah. It’s fine. I see that Dave’s old pajamas have made a come back.”

“I never did donate that box that’s been sitting in my closet for ages. We woke up about 2:00 and Kurt asked for something to sleep in, so I just opened it up and grabbed those out.”

“Well, at least you were comfortable.”

“Yesterday I woke up in skinny jeans and a form fitting button-up. That wasn’t comfortable at all. Being dead drunk is the only thing that made me able to sleep in that outfit. Something I will NOT be repeating any time soon. I told Dave I’m only eating jello I make myself in the future. I’m just not eating any food at those parties. I need to put a stash of granola bars or protein bars in my glove box or something. I had heard rumors of pot brownies, so I avoided all of the baked goods, but no one thought to tell me that the jello was dangerous.”

Paul laughed. They finished eating and the teens cleared the table. Paul went out and brought the paper back in and sat back down to read it.

Dave and Kurt came out of the kitchen when they were done.

“I want to ask you something, David.”

Kurt went ahead upstairs.

“I know that there is no way to make this better, but I want to know if you want to have one last pleasant meal with your mom before I tell her. We can go to that place she likes that’s near the church. I have to pick her up at the church when the service is over. She rode out to the campground with Kathy and a couple of other women to save gas.”

“I knew she rode with someone else. Her car is in the garage. I guess that would be nice. You can call me when you leave the church and I’ll drive over there and meet you.”

“I’m going to go out and get some boxes and packing stuff and have it here at the house for her. I’m figuring that she will just pack up and leave.”

Dave nodded and started to cry. Paul got up and wrapped his arms around Dave.

“David. It’s okay. Well, it’s not okay, but it’s going to be. Her choices are her own. Remember that. You are not doing anything wrong. Being yourself isn’t wrong. I saw a huge change in you in just one day of being yourself. You deserve to be happy, David. It’s going to be okay. We’ll both miss her.” Paul loosened his grip on Dave.

Dave nodded. “I’m going to go up and get ready.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Is there a training mode on any of those games you like?” Kurt looked up. He got up and went over to Dave. “You’ve been crying.”

“Yeah. I’m going to meet both of them for lunch at this place my mom likes. Dad wants us to have one last nice meal together. He has to pick her up anyway since she rode with someone else. He’s going to call me when I need to leave to meet them. He’s getting boxes and stuff to help her pack.”

Kurt wrapped his arms around Dave and pressed into his chest. Dave tipped his head down and kissed to top of Kurt’s head and squeezed him a little.

“Come on. I’ll put _Halo Reach_ in and you can practice against an AI. I’ll put it on the easiest setting while you figure out the controls.”

Kurt moved his hands from Dave’s back to wrapping them around the back of his neck. He pulled Dave down a bit and looked up to kiss him. “Okay. You shower and get all your stuff together and I’ll see what I can do about learning how to play.”

“You’re doing this for me?”

“I am. You said you’d join Glee Club to spend more time with me. I can learn to do new things too.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“So, now we can play together as a team?”

“Yes. We’ll start with the campaign in the easiest setting so you get a feel for how the game is played now that you know how to use the controller. Once we get decent at working together as a team, we’ll challenge Z to play.”

“So, the two of us can play together like a regular video game and we can also play as a team online against other people? That’s actually really cool.”

“It is. You can talk to the people you’re play with too. So, if you had an Xbox and a headset at your house, we could play together and talk while we play.”

“And no one else could hear us talk?”

“Nope.”

“That’s actually really amazing technology.”

“It is. Do you want to try playing one campaign before we go to your house?”

“Sure.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Okay, so my dad is going to the shop for a while this afternoon. Mercedes is coming at 3:00 and Azimio is coming at 2:30. I’ll make the cake while you’re gone. And the brownies. Should I put nuts in them or anything?”

“As long as they’re brownies, Z won’t care. But if you’re really trying to butter him up, put chopped up pecans in them.”

“Got it. I’ll see if we have some.”

Dave took a deep breath and let it out. “I have to go.”

“Maybe we’ll go out for that new outfit after we eat the cake. Azimio can prove his sincerity by shopping with us.”

Dave laughed. “He’s got it so bad for her, he’d probably carry her bags around like a valet if she’d go out with him.”

Kurt laughed. “I guess we’ll see then.” He wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck and Dave leaned down a bit and kissed him. “I’ll see you when you get back.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Azimio rang the doorbell right at 2:30. Kurt showed him in.

“Dave’s in the dining room. Follow me.” Kurt led him through the kitchen into the dining room and they both sat down.

“Now, that’s a cake. You made that?”

“I did. It’s a black forest chocolate cake. It’s really good.”

“Looks like. And what’s in the container?”

“The brownies.”

“Hummel, you might just be my new best friend.”

Dave punched him in the arm.

“Well, my new second best friend. But you’re gonna have to step up your game, D. He’s made me a fancy cake AND a batch of brownies.”

“Brownies with pecans,” Kurt added cheekily to rib Dave even more.

“A fancy cake and fancy brownies,” Azimio corrected.

“Yeah. I’ll take you for burgers or something.”

Azimio laughed at him. “Yeah, no burger’s gonna beat that cake, dude.”

Dave rolled his eyes.

“In all seriousness, I met with the football team today. I called them all up to the school. I told them that I wasn’t down with the bullying anymore and that I wasn’t going to be pressured by some dimwitted upperclassmen anymore. I pointed out that we hadn’t won a game this season until Hummel made that field goal, and last year we won only won two games. I told them that if the seniors do something to get me kicked off the team because I won’t bully people that it was no skin off my nose to get kicked off a losing football team. No scouts are ever going to come to any of our games anyway.”

“How did they take it?” Dave asked.

“Most of them rallied around the not wanting to be a losing team. There was a bit of a stand off at first. A few guys got up and stood with me, like Hudson and Chang. The few freshmen that made the team got up. Eventually there were just the seniors still sitting on the bleachers.”

“Then what?”

“I baited them. I told them the coup had taken place and there was a regime change. I told them if they kept slushying people and causing trouble, that I’d make sure their mommas found out. Ain’t none of them afraid of Figgins, but they damn well don’t want their mommas knowing what they’ve been doing.”

“So, they’re not going to come after me for the dancing thing?” Kurt asked.

“Nah. Everyone in the crowd thought it was some kind of gimmick and thought it was funny. We just can’t keep doing it. Me and D, we’ll work with you until you can kick confidently without the music.”

Kurt let out a sigh. “Good. I didn’t know what to expect for Monday.”

“Well, I gave them all a pep talk about working together and getting over stupid petty stuff. I pointed out that if we keep winning, we might get scouts out and that got most of them pumped up. Plus, Tanaka’s useless. We’re going to meet and come up with some plays and stuff and get better without his useless input. We all decided we’re tired of being the laughingstock of the high school football teams.”

“I’ll have to see what I can do about the hockey team. It may come down to the football team getting the hockey team to stop by sending photos of their behavior to their moms like you said. We’ll just have to see.”

“When Mercedes gets here, I want the two of you to stay in here. I’m going to talk to her for a few minutes and then I’ll bring her in.” Kurt turned to Azimio. “Did you ever personally slushie her?”

“No way, dude. She’s fine. I slushied Rachel and JBI and umm… the guys from the AV club whenever Lauren wasn’t around. No one’s stupid enough to slushie her – she’d kick my ass.”

Kurt laughed. “I’m sure.”

The doorbell rang. Kurt got up and went to the door and let Mercedes in.

“What’s up with the mid-afternoon meet up, boo?”

“Well, I wanted to talk to you.” Kurt closed the door behind her and followed her into the living room.

“Who else is here? There’s a truck in the driveway that’s not your dad’s.”

“I need you to promise me that you’ll keep what you learn this afternoon to yourself until I say otherwise. It’s really important.”

“You’re making me nervous. Are you sick?”

“I’m not sick. I’m fine.”

“Okay then. Just tell me.”

“You have to promise me that you’ll stay calm and listen.”

She stared at him like she was trying to look into his mind. “What is going on? You’re freaking me out.”

“You have to promise me first.”

“Fine. I will keep whatever is going on to myself until you say otherwise.”

He motioned for her to go into the dining room.

She stopped dead in her tracks and Kurt bumped into her in the doorway.

“Kurt Eli Hummel, you better tell me why Azimio Adams and David Karofsky are sitting in this room right now. Are they blackmailing you into something?”

“What did I say before? Calm? This is NOT you being calm. Sit down. I made a cake.”

“Why am I having cake with these two?”

“Stop talking long enough to listen to them talk, and you’ll find out.”

She gave them both the evil eye. Kurt sliced the cake and pushed the first piece towards Mercedes. He cut slices for everyone else as well. No one took a bite.

“Drinks? Milk? Soda?”

“Milk’s fine,” Azimio said.

Everyone else just nodded. Kurt went in the kitchen and brought back the gallon of milk and went back for four glasses. He poured and distributed the glasses.

“So, talk,” Mercedes said.

Dave took a deep breath and started. “Last year, we were both freshmen and low men on the social ladder, one step above everyone else, but just barely. I wanted to play hockey. Z wanted to play football. We tried out and got on the teams. The upperclassmen on the teams hazed all of the freshmen and made it abundantly clear that if we wanted to remain on the teams that we’d do as we were told. But the threat was a little more than just that. The threats were specific. If we refused, the seniors said they’d plant pot in our lockers and report us. Not only would we get kicked off the team, we’d get expelled and possibly sent to juvie.”

Azimio chimed in. “The other threat was that they’d steal equipment from the school and make sure it ended up in our possession and they’d turn us in for it.”

“So, the two of you and the rest of the jocks that slushie us only did it because you yourselves were being bullied. You expect me to believe that?”

“It’s true. But there was a coup and a regime change this afternoon. There’s only a handful of guys that are seniors this year. With the rest of the football team on my side, they were overthrown this afternoon. I’m the new top dog.”

“And as top dog, you’re going to discontinue the tradition of slushying us losers?”

“Bingo.”

“Well, that will be a welcome change,” she said.

“I want to apologize for my part in what went on though. I shouldn’t have done it. I should have just quit the team or something else rather than participate in it.”

“Yeah, you should have. But everyone does stupid stuff sometimes. Neither one of you ever slushied me personally, so there’s nothing for you to do other than actually stop doing it to other people.”

“We won’t be participating anymore. And if you see any of the jocks still trying to do it, snap a picture of them if you can. Photographic evidence will stop the rest of them,” Dave said.

“The football team is going to make the puckheads stop,” Azimio said.

“I’m looking forward to that, but I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“This cake is amazing, Kurt,” Mercedes said.

Kurt noticed that Azimio’s plate was empty. “You want another slice, Azimio?”

“Hell, yeah. I mean, yes, please.”

Mercedes laughed. “I see you do know what manners are.”

“I most certainly do. I’ll get my act together.” He took the plate back from Kurt. “Thanks. This is really good.”

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you like it.”

“So, is someone going to tell me what caused hell to freeze over since Friday?” Mercedes asked.

Kurt looked at Dave, who nodded.

“Dave and I had an enlightening conversation Saturday morning.”

“I see. So, enlighten me, why don’t you?”

Azimio laughed. “Someone tell the woman before I do it myself so we can get on with things.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “Well, it seems that these two have crushes on the two of us.”

“Say what?”

“I’m gay,” Dave said.

“And you’re fine.”

“They’ve liked the two of us for quite a while it seems,” Kurt said.

“Come again?”

“That’s why neither one of them ever actually slushied either one of us.”

“I see.”

“Look, Mercedes. I think you are the most beautiful girl in the whole school. And as freaked out as I am to sit here and say it out loud, it’s true.”

Kurt said, “It seems that both of them have a thing for sassy divas.”

Dave blushed and Azimio fiddled with his fork and the crumbs on his plate.

“Uh huh. You know I’m not some two-bit floozy cheerleader.”

“Oh, I know,” Azimio said. “Look, I told Kurt I’d join Glee Club to prove my intentions are sincere, so tomorrow after school you can expect me to serenade you with my audition song.”

“You can sing?”

“He can. I’ve heard him.”

“Alright then. You join Glee Club and you stop bullying people and you can take me out to lunch after church next Sunday, provided you don’t sneak out during the final prayer.”

Dave laughed.

“How about we all go out to dinner next Monday night? Azimio just turned 16. He gets a truck after midterms as long as his grades stay up. So, we’ll go out for a double date Monday.”

“You and Karofsky?”

“Dave apologized for what he did. He’s not the dumb jock he acts like at school. He has a 3.9 grade point average and he’s in Pre-calc already.”

“I see. Well, he plays the dumb jock role well then. So, a double date next Monday? Why can’t we go Sunday after church?”

“Dave and his dad and my dad and I are all going camping next weekend, so I won’t be around to play chauffeur for all of us.”

“Alright, then. Monday dinner. Let me know where when you decide.”

“Adelle’s.”

“Ooh. I love that place.”

“Good. Me too,” Azimio said.

“Well, boys. This has been an interesting afternoon so far, but we can only eat so much cake before we get sick. What’s next on the agenda?”

“Shopping,” Kurt said.

“I love shopping,” Mercedes perked up. “What are we shopping for?”

“An outfit that actually fits right for Dave.”

“Ooh. A makeover shopping trip – even better,” she laughed. “I’m in.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Try the burgundy one. This one is nice, but let’s see the other one before I make up my mind.”

Azimio was in the dressing room cackling at Dave. “The sleeves just don’t do you justice, dude. It needs to be tighter here, here, and here.” He mock punched him in the upper arm.

“Dude, shut up.”

“Oh, no D. This is WAY too much fun.”

“Just wait until Mercedes brings something back here for you to try on,” he said as he shut the door to the fitting room stall to try the other shirt on.

Azimio rolled his eyes.

Mercedes could hear them. “Nah, I’ve seen his church clothes. His momma’s got good taste in clothes. He cleans up good.”

Azimio stuck his tongue out at Dave. “See, I done look good in the clothes I got, so shut it, D.”

“Fine, fine.” He opened the door and stepped out. “So, this one or the other one?” Dave asked Kurt.

“Definitely that one.” Kurt winked at him.

Dave smiled. “Alright. Anything else?”

“It’s a start,” Kurt laughed.

“A start?” Dave took his hand and pulled him into the fitting room. He leaned down and kissed him quickly and handed him the rejects and opened the door to let him out. “What else do I need?”

Kurt tip-toed and whispered in his ear. “Tighter pants.”

Dave blushed.

“I’ll be right back.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt dropped Azimio off at his house and headed home. Once they got there, Kurt let Dave in the house and turned to walk Mercedes back to her car.

“You’re sure they’re not just pranking us, right?” Mercedes asked.

“I’m sure. My dad and his dad spent all evening together last night. I’ll let him tell you the rest whenever he feels ready to share it.”

“Okay then. I’m not sure that Azimio’s my type, but if he’s willing to give up bullying and willing to join Glee Club to prove his sincerity, I’ll give him a chance. I have absolutely no idea what he and I could have to talk about, but we’ll see. He was pretty funny when we were shopping.”

“He seems to be a pretty funny guy from what little time I’ve spent with him.” Kurt hugged her. “You can see if he follows through and after next Monday you can decide.”

“Yeah, we’ll see. We always hear adults tell stories of how stupid they were when they were kids. Maybe this is the two of them ending the ‘stupid’ period of their lives.” She shut her car door and rolled her window down.

“We can hope. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.” Kurt waved as she drove off.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When Kurt went inside, he didn’t see Dave in the living room, so he went down to his bedroom.

“Hey.”

“I thought I’d get back to work. I don’t have that much left.”

“Okay. I finished mine. I’ll just read ahead in World History since we’re going camping next weekend.”

About 20 minutes later, Dave leaned over and took Kurt’s history book. He got up and put it on Kurt’s stack of textbooks. He held is hand out to Kurt. “Dance with me?”

Kurt turned his head slightly, wondering if Dave was teasing him. “Really?”

“You don’t want to?”

“Sure. You’re just full of surprises.”

“Well, I haven’t run out just yet.”

“What kind of music?”

“Something jazzy, but slow.”

Kurt looked through his CDs, chose one, put it in, and pressed play. Dave offered his hand and Kurt took it.

“I’ve never really slow danced, but I’d like to with you,” Dave said.

Kurt wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck and Dave wrapped his hands around Kurt’s lower back.  Kurt stepped back suddenly. “I’ll be right back.” He let go and went in his closet. He came out wearing a pair of Doc Martens. He went back to where Dave was standing and stepped closer. “Much better. Now I can kiss you much easier.”

Dave smiled. “Nice boots.” He looked down and kissed Kurt.

“I’m still growing. Maybe soon I won’t need them to kiss you without raising up on my toes.”

“Either way’s fine.” He winked at Kurt.

After a few songs, Dave stepped back. “I’m going to step way out of my comfort zone. Sit on the chair.” He took his phone out and hooked it to Kurt’s speakers.

The music started and Dave took a deep breath. He started doing the electric slide. Kurt could not hide the huge smile on his face. When Dave finished, Kurt jumped up and threw his arms around his neck. “That was awesome. Where did you learn to line dance?”

“Well, there’s this place we go camping sometimes and they have these family nights where it’s all-age dancing.   Since I never knew anyone there, I went and learned the line dances. It was a lot of fun. I’ve never told anyone.”

Kurt kissed him. “It’s awesome. You are so much more than the dumb, bully jock that you portray so well at school. So, I’ll add good actor to your list of previously unknown skills.”

“So, if you have the outfit you were wearing at the Invitationals, keep it. Maybe we can go out line dancing some time.”

“Sounds like fun. I’m not sure where someone who looks as young as I do could get in to dance though.”

“I’m not sure, but we can try to find a place.”

“Some time you can teach me that one or just do it again and I’ll stand behind and watch you and learn to do it just from watching.”

“You just want to stare at my ass.”

Kurt laughed and kissed him. “So, are you actually done with your homework or did you just need a break?”

“I’m done.”

“Well, you can either come up and watch TV or you can come help me make dinner.”

“Hmm. I’m not much of a cook, but I can follow instructions. Are you willing to work with a novice?”

“Sure. I’ll get you trained in no time.”

“That’s what you think. I burned my grilled cheese the other day.”

“I’ll take that as a challenge.” He turned and flounced up the stairs.

Dave laughed and followed him up.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Well, that was pretty good for vegetable soup, Kurt. It had enough meat in it to make it decent.”

Dave laughed.

“I keep trying to get him to eat healthy. But I’m going to get at least one reinforcement on my side soon. For my 16th birthday, I told my him what I really wanted was for him to finally make that 40-year doctor’s appointment he’s put off for three years. So, his appointment is this week.”

“I’ll go.”

“You better. If you miss it for some reason, I’m ditching school to take you to the rescheduled appointment.”

“I don’t need a stress test. You’re my stress test.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “You’re mine. I just want you to live a long, healthy life. And I’m pretty sure that burgers, fries, pizza, and beer is not the recipe for that.”

Burt shook his head. “I’ll go,” he insisted.

“Good.”

“Do I get a piece of that cake you made earlier?”

“Did you go for a 30-minute walk today?”

“Not yet.”

“Then you get the same answer.”

“You’re such a hard nosed taskmaster.”

“I’m an only child with just one parent. Go for a walk and remind yourself how you don’t want me sent to Arkansas to live with Aunt Mildred and Uncle Andy.”

“I’ll go on that walk.”

“Great idea.”

Burt rolled his eyes and got up. “I’ll be back.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“I’ll be sure to go to all of my doctor’s appointments,” Dave said as he helped Kurt load the dishwasher.

“Good.”

“Or maybe I’ll forget on purpose just to get you to fuss at me.”

“You better not.”

Dave stepped in front of him. “Hmm. I’ll have to do something to make sure you pay attention to me.”

“You’re a scoundrel. You fake insulted my clothes to get me to focus on you and pay attention to you?”

“I didn’t know any other way without outing myself. I like you paying attention to me.” He picked Kurt up and sat him on the counter and stepped forward and kissed him.

Kurt placed his palms on Dave’s chest. “Well, now that you have my attention, there won’t be any more insults, right?”

“Nope. Not a single one because I didn’t mean any of them anyway. You are hot. The clothes you wear show off your ASS-ets. I like them a lot.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Now, you’re just being cheesy.”

“Oh, no. I’m being completely serious. My baggy jeans help cover over the effect your skinny jeans have on me.”

Kurt blushed. “Let’s go pick a movie before my dad gets back. If we start to watch it before he gets here, he won’t veto whatever it is.”

Dave kissed him. “You’re sneaky.”

“Sometimes. But I’m in the mood for something fun, not some fighting movie.” He kissed Dave. “Come on.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Haven’t you watched this like a hundred times?” Burt asked as he came in from his walk.

“I think just 87.”

Burt rolled his eyes. “Oh, so then not THAT many times.”

“Shh. I like this part.”

“You like ALL the parts.”

Dave laughed.

“Your slice of cake is on the counter.”

“Thanks.”

Kurt scooted in tighter to Dave’s side. “You like this, right?”

“I do. I’ve only seen it once before, but I like it.”

Burt came in and sat on the end of the couch and ate his cake. “It’s good.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I’m going to go up and shower and do some work in my office.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Help me move the couch and this will go faster.”

Dave helped Kurt get it all set up. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just get a sofa bed or a futon? This is a lot of trouble to go to every night.”

“I didn’t really consider that when I had the idea 6 years ago. The whole Transformer aspect of the moving pieces was very appealing back then. Maybe my dad would let me get something different now. I’m not sure. Maybe I could just redo the futon in the living room and put it down here and he could get a bigger couch for the living room or a sectional or something.”

“Finally. Finished.”

“What are you going to sing tomorrow? Do you need to practice?”

“Nope. No practicing. I’m just going to wing it. And it will be a surprise. Don’t worry. I’m not going to serenade you with something sappy. Not in public tomorrow anyway.”

“Okay. Well, then I’m going to go take a shower. Contrary to what you’ve seen the last two nights, I don’t like going to bed without showering first.”

“Well, the last two nights have certainly not been normal, but enjoyable, nonetheless.”

“I can’t make any comments about night before last, but I did enjoy last night. I’ll be out in a little bit. You can go back upstairs and watch TV if you want or whatever. If you’re not here when I get out, I’ll come look for you.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Burt came in the living room while Dave was watching a recap of the weekend sports scores.

“You know he’s never going to care about any of that, right?”

“I know. That’s okay. He’s allowed to not like something.”

“I’m sorry for what you’re going through.”

“Thanks. I’ve known it was coming for a while. It’s why I put it off for so long.”

“No kid should have to live through his mother dying or abandoning him.”

“Yeah, well, the world doesn’t always work the way we want it to.”

“Ain’t that the truth. You really like him don’t you?”

Dave blushed. “Yeah. I have for a long time.”

“He is loyal to a fault. Don’t abuse that.”

“I’ll do my best not to.”

“I know you’re serious because you’re risking your rep at school for him. Just remember that you made this choice for yourself. And that he’s in as much danger or more than you are over this.”

“I know. That’s what scares me most. Like I said, I knew what the outcome would be with my mom. But the jocks at school are hard to predict. I’m proof of the stupid things people will do because of peer pressure. Z has my back. And I’m hoping that by me and Z joining Glee Club and changing our ways, that the other guys in Glee will have our backs. I figure thought that at first they’re going to think it’s all some kind of prank – that I’m playing them and Kurt. But hopefully they’ll think about it and realize that no jock would come out as gay as a way to annoy and bully people.”

“It will take time. It took you time to build the rep you have. It will take time for people to change their opinions.”

“Yeah. I know. One wrong move and I’ll undo however many days or weeks or months of being a good guy that took place before I screwed up.”

Kurt came in. “Your turn.”

Dave got up off the couch and went downstairs. Kurt took his place on the couch.

“So…”

“So?”

“You like him?”

“Surprisingly, I do. He’s not who I thought he was. He’s funny and smart and actually nice.”

“That’s what Paul told me. He said he’d watch David slip away and be less and less himself, but that in one day with you, he saw the old David make a come back.”

“He’s joining Glee Club tomorrow. That’s a big step in the wrong direction socially. Plus, he’s not going to hide that we’re dating. He’s not planning a big ‘gay reveal’, but he’s not going to hide. That means a lot to me.”

“Yeah, me too, kiddo. I still feel a bit like you’re only dating him because he’s your only option.”

“What if the only option is a good one and I don’t give him a chance?”

“True enough.”

“I do have a question for you, though.”

“What’s that?”

“Would you consider getting a bigger couch or a sectional for up here and letting me take this futon down to my room to sleep on?”

“What’s wrong with that thing you picked out a few years ago?”

“It’s not that it’s broken or anything, but when it’s in couch form, I can’t lie down on it anymore. I’m too tall to be able to stretch out on it and I can stretch out on this futon, plus it won’t take up that much more room than the folding couch I have, unlike a bed would.”

“I’ll think about it. Plus, if we’re going to have Paul and David over, we need room for more than three people to sit in here. So, a sectional might be a good idea. You can go to look for one when you have time. Take pictures and get the prices and we’ll talk about it.”

“Thanks. And I want to thank you for being so lenient about letting Dave stay here. I know you’re not comfortable talking about THAT topic, but I’ll just tell you again that I’m not ready for that. Sometimes I think maybe there’s something wrong with me because I don’t like porn and stuff, but maybe that’s just how I am and maybe it’s okay. I’d think I’d have to be in love with someone to be willing to go that far. I don’t think I could allow someone I don’t 100% love and trust to touch me like that. And I’m not at that point. If and when my feelings change and I’m certain that I’m in love with Dave, or someone else if things don’t work out with him, then I’d be willing to consider those other things.”

“I was never able to do the one-night stand thing with random girls either. I don’t want you to have some warped idea that I was a celibate monk until I met your mom, but I was – I’ve heard an expression – a … serial monogamist.”

“I get it. You didn’t just pick up random girls and have sex with them.”

“Right.” Burt picked up the remote. “I’m going to watch something you don’t like now.”

Kurt laughed. “Good night, Dad. I packed a bowl of the soup for you to take with you to work for lunch tomorrow.”

“Thanks, kiddo. ‘Night.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave was out of the shower and reading a textbook when Kurt got back downstairs.

“You could have come back up.”

“I did, but when I got to the top of the stairs, you and your dad were talking, so I came back down to give you your privacy.”

“Oh. Well, thanks. Are your ready to get in bed?”

“Sure.” He lay down and covered up. “I feel like I might make this thing collapse.”

Kurt hadn’t lain down yet. “Um, we could go upstairs and flatten the futon and sleep there.”

David got up slowly, feeling nervous about the jointed sections giving out. “Okay. Or I can sleep on the floor.”

“I don’t want you to have to do that.”

“I’m sorry for causing a problem.”

“You’re not a problem. Grab the sheet and pillows. I’ll get the comforter and we’ll go upstairs. I already asked my dad about bringing the futon down here. He told me to go couch shopping and bring photos and prices back.”

“He’s not much of a shopper, I take it.”

Kurt laughed. “He has the same clothes he’s had my whole life. I manage to get him something new whenever I can convince him that what he has can’t be repaired again. I think he’s allergic to the mall. I do occasionally manage to get him to pick something out if I go to WalMart or K-mart with him.”

David laughed. “Even I’m not THAT bad.”

“No, you were very sweet to play along this afternoon and you look really hot in that outfit. You can wear it when we go out with Azimio and Mercedes next week. I’m not going to ask you to change how you dress for school. If you want to, you can, after you figure out your own style. And you’re free to like the style you’re used to wearing. I might tease you because you hide your muscles under those baggy clothes and your letterman jacket, but I’ll tease you privately.”

Kurt grabbed his phone and they headed upstairs. They put the sheet on the futon, put the pillows on, and covered up as they lay down.

“Better?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Kurt scooted forward a bit and put his hand on Dave’s upper arm and ran his hand gently down and back up. He stretched his neck out a bit and kissed Dave gently. “Snuggle me?”

“Definitely, but I want to talk a little more first, if that’s okay.”

“Of course.”

“My dad texted me before I got in the shower. I called him back.”

Kurt ran his hand along Dave’s arm, but just waited for him to continue.

“He and my mom spent the whole afternoon packing in silence. He’s a lawyer, you know. He wrote up dissolution paperwork, which he said is for couples who agree to divorce and can agree to the terms without legal intervention. She read through the agreement and signed it. She also signed a form voluntarily terminating her parental rights.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. By signing that form, she has no legal ability to force me into counseling or therapy. She won’t have the right to contest anything my dad and I do. I knew she’d leave, but I thought she’d try to force the issue by demanding that I get treatment for my ‘problem’. This is so much better. Not that she’s leaving, of course. But that she’s made it so that she can’t come back and try to ‘fix me’. Dad couldn’t talk long because he didn’t want her to overhear what he was saying. I’m just glad that part is settled. I was actually worried that she’d go back to Pennsylvania and get the idea to fight him for custody.”

“Well, then I’m glad for the best outcome of a terrible situation. Can I ask you something?”

“You can ask me anything.”

“How long have you known you’re gay?”

“Well, I think in actual words, probably since I was in the 5th grade, so around 11. I told you that I quit going to church with her when I was 12. I heard the pastor give a sermon on the wickedness of homosexuality. He used the word ‘gay’ and said ‘men who love other men’ as well. I think that’s when I connected all of the dots, so to speak. I had obviously heard the word ‘gay’ before, but it was usually used to make fun of guys who weren’t very masculine. So, being a kid, I guess I just assumed that gay was something lame and girly that a boy wouldn’t want to be, like the word ‘sissy’. And I was big and burly, so I never associated it with myself. And that sermon hit me hard. Up until that point, I didn’t know any adult men who were married to men, but I was a kid. I didn’t really know that many adults personally anyway. I had never really associated the way I felt about other boys as being wrong or unusual. I had never talked about it because it wasn’t really the kind of thing boys that age talked about. That didn’t really start until like the 7th grade, and once they started talking I realized that I was the only one who wasn’t super excited that all of the girls were getting boobs.”

Kurt laughed and then shivered, which made Dave laugh.

“Exactly. So, I just kept my mouth shut at first and then when I started getting teased for never pointing out which girls I thought were hot, I just sort of picked a couple of girls that were at the top of everyone else’s lists. I had quit going to church by then, but those hellfire and brimstone sermons stuck around in the back of my mind condemning me. And it was about that time that the pastor got the ladies involved in helping support a summer camp – a conversion camp. It’s too far from here for my mom to volunteer very often, but she would go a weekend or two each summer and help. It was after she started volunteering that she started speaking out about it at home.”

Kurt used his thumb to wipe away the few tears that were streaming down Dave’s cheek.

“So, by the time I started 8th grade, I was hearing quite a bit of gay bashing, but not daily or anything. I figure it probably coincided with a fundraising or another gay-bashing sermon. But she was unwavering in her absolute disgust. It … it’s hard to explain. She’d be doing something really sweet and motherly and spoil me like buying me a video game I wanted or something and she’d see someone in the store that she would start to rant about when we got back in the car. I don’t know that there’s even a name for the feeling. But I knew that she would never accept it, but I also really wondered if being cured was a possibility. I didn’t want to be different from everyone else. So, I secretly started doing research at some point in the 8th grade. I’d do it a the public library so it wouldn’t be in my search history.”

Dave was quiet for a few minutes, but Kurt waited patiently to let him regroup.

“I wasn’t convinced by what I found. I came to terms with the fact that conversion therapy wasn’t the answer that mom seemed to think that it was. I didn’t know what to do though. I had this lack of interest in girls, but I refused to allow myself to look at guys or feel any interest. Sort of this dumb notion that maybe if I ignored it, it would go away. I know it’s stupid, but I was all sorts of mixed up. Hearing that I would burn in hell because I was attracted to guy really scared me when I was that young. I mean I’d be taught that God forgave people for doing terrible things, but the sermons about being gay didn’t seem to have that forgiveness option. I had never read a Bible on my own. I was just a kid. And then a confused teenager.”

“It would be confusing. I find most of what religious people believe to be confusing. But I didn’t grow up being told that it was true. So, I can only imagine that the element of having been told all of it was the absolute truth your whole life would add an enormous amount of confusion to all of it.”

“It did. So, junior high ended and I was pretty certain that I was gay and that it wasn’t going to change since I had tried to stop thinking about liking guys and tried to notice things about girls and it didn’t change how I felt. Azimio and I started at McKinley and I saw you the first week of school. And obviously from what Z said at dinner last night, my first reaction gave me away – to him at least. I did my best to avoid being near you all while trying my best to watch you. So lame. I know. But I couldn’t keep my eyes off of you. I had NEVER felt that way about any random guy I saw walking around. I knew then for sure that I was gay. But I also knew that I couldn’t let anyone know. I wasn’t ready to lose my mom. I wasn’t ready to be dumped to the bottom of the social scale. So, I pushed myself to be what was expected of me. The advanced students who were taking both Geometry and Algebra 2 at the same time were put in a two-period block. The same teacher taught both classes. So, none of the jocks were in my math class and the other freshmen were in Algebra 1, but there were multiple sections, so none of them ever figured out that I wasn’t in Algebra 1.”

“So you did your best to blend in.”

“Yeah. It was dumb in some ways, but I wasn’t ready. I didn’t think I was ready this year. I’m not sure that I’m ready for tomorrow. But when I took you back to my house Friday night and Saturday morning we talked, I just realized that it wouldn’t matter how long I wait. My mom’s opinion wasn’t going to change. I was going to lose her no matter what. During the night when you were sleeping, I lay there thinking for a while. I didn’t like who I was pretending to be at school. I was struggling all the time with anger and self-hatred. I just decided that ready or not, I was going to take the steps I needed to take to be myself, the real me.”

“Well, I think I like the real you, quite a bit.” Kurt stretched forward and kissed Dave gently. “What’s the plan for tomorrow at school?”

“Well, I think I’ll just mind my business all day and then come to Glee Club and sit down next to you. I’ll catch Mr. Schuester at lunch and tell him that I want to audition at the beginning of the meeting.”

“Alright. And afterwards?”

“First I have to ask you something.”

“What?”

“What are we?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you my boyfriend?”

“I thought so. Do you want to keep it less formal than that?”

“No. Definitely not. I just didn’t want to make assumptions. So, afterwards, I was hoping to take my boyfriend out to dinner after an early movie.”

“Really? You want to go out as a couple in public?”

“Of course. The most gorgeous guy I’ve ever seen is now my boyfriend.”

Kurt play smacked him.

“Hey now. You ARE the most gorgeous guy I’ve ever seen. I’m allowed to have an opinion, am I not?”

“Of course, but I’m not gorgeous. I’m scrawny and girly.”

“Um, no.” Dave laughed. “You are not girly. You are hot. You don’t have to think so because you’re not dating yourself.” He leaned forward and kissed Kurt. “I could do that all day. That will be hard tomorrow.”

“What?”

“Keeping my hands and lips off of you.”

Kurt laughed. “You’re…”

“Cute. You said I’m cute. That’s what I’m going with.”

Kurt laughed again. “I did say that. You’re right.”

“So, after school we’re going to the movies and then out to dinner?”

“We are, but don’t stress out. I’m going out in what I’m wearing to school. We’ll save the dressing up for the double date with Z and Mercedes.”

“Okay.”

“So, that snuggle? Is it still available?”

Kurt kissed him quickly and flopped over and scooted back.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Burt came down to the surprise of finding Dave and Kurt asleep on the futon in the living room. He went in the kitchen and started some coffee. The noise caused Kurt to stir.  He got up as quietly as he could.

Burt walked into the dining room and motioned for Kurt to follow him.

“Dave was afraid that our combined weight, well his mostly, was going to break the hinged sections on my transforming couch-bed. We had it all set up, but when he lay down on it, he was too nervous to fall asleep.”

“I see. Well, like I said, look into some options and bring them to me.”

“He’s taking me out on our first real date after school. We’re going to a movie and then to dinner.”

“Alright, bud. It seems that you’re both ready to give this a try. I’ll eat something from the leftovers in the freezer. I gotta get to the shop early and get a few things done before we open.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

As soon as Burt was gone, Kurt walked into the living room and scooted up next to Dave. “Hey, sleeping beauty, you need to wake up.” He leaned over and kissed Dave gently.

Dave reached up and wrapped his arms around Kurt so he couldn’t get away.

Kurt laughed. “Sorry. You can’t get extra snuggles when you’ve already overslept by 10 minutes. You have to get up so we can get to school on time.”

“Snuggling is better than school.”

“Well, obviously, but we both want to be able to get into college or at least graduate at some point. Up with you.” Kurt slipped loose.

Dave groaned and sat up and stretched. “I’m up. I’m up.”

“You can’t watch me get dressed if you’re still up here while I’m downstairs changing.” Kurt scurried down the stairs.

Dave got up and followed him.

“I see. You CAN be motivated,” Kurt teased.

“Very funny.”

They got ready, grabbed their school stuff, and headed back upstairs. Kurt started some eggs.

“Do you want to ride together?” Dave asked. “It seems like a waste of gas for both of us to drive.”

“People will see us together and questions will start before school does. You said you wanted to come out to the Glee Club first. It’s completely up to you, though.”

“You’re right. Just for today, we’ll go separately. We’ll just stop here afterschool and leave your Navigator before we got to the movies.”

“You’re sure you want to do that?”

“I’m sure. Are you embarrassed?”

“Nope. Everyone knows I’m gay or they assume. No one would make that assumption about you. I just don’t want you to think that you have to parade me around to prove to me that you’re worthy of dating me or something. We have a big TV. We can watch movies here and I can order in or cook for you. I just don’t want you to think that being my boyfriend means that you have to take steps you’re not ready to take yet.”

“I know.”

“Alright then. Your breakfast is done.” Kurt slid Dave’s eggs onto a plate and added some toast. “I should have asked how you liked them. I’m sorry. I just made them the way I do for my dad all the time. Auto-pilot.”

Dave laughed. “It’s fine. They’re cooked. That’s the important part.” He carried the plate into the dining room.

Kurt followed him and sat down next to him. “At any point today, if you decide to abandon or modify your plan, I’ll do my best to ad lib and follow along.”

Dave nodded, but continued to eat. Kurt ate quickly. They put their plates in the dishwasher, grabbed their stuff, and left for school.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When Kurt came out of his third period class, he saw that Azimio and Strando had one of the seniors backed into a corner.

Azimio was talking rather loudly. “Don’t even think about it. You seniors were warned. Final warning.”

“Or what?”

“Or you’ll see. Try me.”

Kurt walked the other direction, knowing that the football player was the one who had nailed him numerous times the year before and at least once or twice already in the last few weeks.

At lunch Tina, Mercedes, and Artie followed Kurt to a table. He sat down at one that gave him a view of the jocks without it being obvious where he was looking.

“… don’t you think, Kurt?” Tina asked, but Kurt had no idea what the beginning of the question had been.

“I’m sorry. I zoned out. Lesson of the weekend – avoid the jello at football parties. It’s made out of vodka and the hangover is horrific.”

“Ooh, Kurt. I’m sorry. I thought you knew about those,” Tina said.

“I didn’t, but now I do. Rest assured I will not be having five in a row, after I had already had a couple earlier.”

“Yeah. I can only imagine the results of that.”

The warning bell rang. They put their trays away and went to class.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After lunch, Kurt had his second class of the day with Dave. He wanted to go sit at the back of the room with him, but he sat where he normally did. He pulled his English textbook out and opened it to the story they had been assigned to read. He struggled to pay attention because he really wanted to sit with Dave. He managed to not make a fool of himself when he was able the question the teacher had asked him.

He made it through the rest of the day more easily because Dave wasn’t in his other classes. He went to his locker as soon as the final bell rang and from there, he went directly to the choir room. He sat in the back row waiting for Dave and Azimio to show up. It didn’t take long and the two of them walked in together.

“Wh-wh-what are they doing here?” Tina asked.

“You’re not welcome,” Rachel said.

Mr. Schuester cut in. “Rachel, you can’t say that. You know that anyone is allowed to join the Glee Club.

“But they’re terrible to us. Why would they want to be here?” she countered.

“I’m going to let the two of them speak to that as soon as everyone is here.”

Once everyone else had arrived, Dave stepped to the center of the room and Azimio followed him.

“Did any of you get slushied or physically harassed today?” Azimio asked.

They looked around the room at each other and were shocked to realize that not a single one of them had been.

“Good.”

“I don’t get it,” Rachel said.

“Puck, Finn, Mike, and Matt were there yesterday when I confronted the football team,” Azimio said. “Last year, the upperclassmen bullied us freshmen and the new sophomores into joining them in their bullying. The football team and the hockey team both. But Sunday afternoon, there was a coup and a regime change. If any of you see anyone being physically bullied or slushied, try to get a photo. Even if it’s blurry. The bullying will stop. We’re taking care of it ourselves.”

Tina asked, “Wh-wh-why?”

“Because it’s wrong and we didn’t want to do it in the first place,” Dave said. “But we were too weak to stand up to them. But we aren’t now.” Dave looked at Mr. Schue. “I’d like to go ahead and sing, if that’s okay.”

“Yeah, sure David. Go ahead.”

Azimio took a seat in the front row near the drums. David walked over to the band. They nodded. Then he walked over to Brad and spoke quietly. Brad started to play.

_Start spreading the news._  
_I’m leaving today._  
_I want to be a part of it._  
_New York, New York._  
_\---_  
_If I can make it there,_  
_I’ll make it anywhere._  
_It’s up to you._  
_New York, New York!_

Kurt clapped and had a huge smile on his face. Dave made a beeline for the empty chair next to Kurt and sat down.

“Well, that was surprisingly good, Karofsky,” Rachel said.

“Dave,” he corrected.

“Right, Dave. But I’ll have to see this personality transplant to believe it. Anyone can join, but if you still bully us, you’re out.”

“No more bullying, I swear.”

Azimio walked over to the band and asked them a question quietly. The guys nodded. He also asked Brad, who immediately started to play. The band joined right in. Azimio came in at the right time, and looked right at Mercedes and sang to her.

While everyone was focused on Azimio singing, Dave moved his chair closer to Kurt’s and put his arm across the back of Kurt’s chair. Kurt glanced at him and smiled.

At the last chorus Azimio stepped towards Mercedes and offered his hand. She got up and danced with him as he sang.

_When I see your face_  
_There’s not a thing that I would change_  
_‘Cause you’re amazing_  
_Just the way you are_  
_And when you smile,_  
_The whole words stops and stares for a while_  
_‘Cause girl, you’re amazing,_  
_Just the way you are._

He let her go and she sat back down. She smiled, tipped her head slightly, and looked at the seat next to her. He smiled and sat down next to her.

“Well, it looks like we have two new Glee Club members. Good job Azimio and David. Welcome to the group. We have sectionals to start working toward and two more voices will help with that. Does anyone else have a song they’d like to share today?”

Rachel got up and stood front and center and said, “In light of today’s most interesting auditions and new members, I want to sing ‘People’.” Brad started to play.

_People who need people are the luckiest people in the world._

Once she finished, she sat back down.

“That’s a nice sentiment, Rachel. Thank you. Does anyone else have anything they’d like to sing or share?”

Dave raised his hand.

Mr. Schuester acknowledged him. “Dave.”

Dave took a deep breath and stood up. He started to say something and then stopped. He closed his eyes, willed himself to focus, and reopened them. “Kurt and I are dating.”

Everyone except Mercedes, Azimio, and Kurt looked really confused.

“Say what?” Puck said. “You’re gay?”

“Yeah. And until just now, only 6 people knew. So, I’d appreciate it, if you keep this to yourselves and let me come out to the jocks myself. And I wouldn’t mind a little back up, if they decide to try to kick my ass when I tell them.”

“That’s messed up, dude. Hasn’t he been bullying you since last year?” Artie asked.

“Actually, he hasn’t, Artie. The other jocks have, but Dave never actually did anything to me personally.”

“I see,” Artie said. “Lucky you.”

“You know they’ve done the same things to me they’ve done to you. So, don’t get like that with me. At least you were spared the pee balloons.”

“That was the football team,” Dave said. “I didn’t have anything to do with that.” Dave moved down front. “Earlier I said that we weren’t going to be bullies anymore, but in my nervous state from thinking about singing in front of all of you, I forgot an important part of what I was going to say. Artie, if you really stop and think, you’ll realize that I didn’t actually participate in any of the things they did to you since you’ve been here this year. I admit that I didn’t do anything to stop them, which was really wrong of me and I apologize for that. But I do want to personally apologize to Rachel for slushying you all last year and to Tina for slushying you at least a couple of times earlier this fall. I’m really sorry. I’ll understand if you don’t want to give me a chance to be your friend, but I would like to prove that I’m sincere, if you’ll just give the time and chance to do so.”

Azimio popped up. “Yeah, like D says – I’m sorry. It was a lame-ass way to behave. I’m done with that shit.”

“Language, Azimio,” Mr. Schue scolded.

“Right. Sorry. I’m done behavin’ like that. I know it’ll take time for y’all to believe us, but we’ll be here, keepin’ on tryin’ to do the right thing from now on.”

The two of them went back to sit down. Dave bumped his chair even closer to Kurt’s before he sat down. He wrapped his arm around Kurt’s shoulder.

“And you believe this crap, Twinkle Toes?” Santana turned and glared at him.

“Hey. If he’s lying, he’s one hell of a liar, Santana. He and his dad spent a long time with me and my dad on Saturday and he spent the day at my house yesterday. I can’t think of a single reason to pretend to be gay in his backwoods town. It’s certainly not going to win him friends or help him to the top of the social ladder. It’s more like social suicide.”

“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes and whipped her head back around forward.

Dave spoke up. “All I’m asking is that you all let me tell people myself. I don’t need any help spreading the information.”

Mr. Schuester cut in. “David is right. If one of you shared something personal with this group, you would want it kept private. Please do as he has asked.”

“I’m going to tell everyone this week, but there’s no football practice today. Tomorrow afterschool, I’ll tell them. And by Wednesday morning, everyone will know.”

“You’re all free to leave.”

Kurt looked around to try to assess the people in the room. He figured Finn was the weak link, but he hoped he’d keep quiet for at least a day.

“Ready?” Dave asked, as he squeezed Kurt’s shoulders.

“Oh, sorry. Zoned out. Yeah. I’m ready.”

“Alright. Let’s get going. I’ll walk with you out to the parking lot and we’ll meet up at your house and you can get in my truck.”

Kurt nodded.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“How about _The Guardians of Ga’Hoole_?” Dave asked. “I read some of those books when I was younger.”

“So did I. That sounds better than the other choices.”

They got in line and each bought a ticket. They walked through the turnstile and gave the attendant their tickets. They walked down the hall to the right. Once they were inside, they saw that the theater was mostly empty.

“Where do you like to sit?”

“In the middle at the top, if that’s okay.”

“Me too actually. Let’s go.” Dave went up the steps and walked to the middle of the back row and sat down. “I didn’t even think to ask. Did you want to get snacks? Or a drink?”

Kurt followed him down the row and sat next to him. “We’re going to eat afterwards you said, so I don’t want to ruin my appetite.”

Dave laughed. “Okay.”

Kurt looked around as the light dimmed. The few people who were in the theater wouldn’t be able to see them without turning completely around in their seats since they were also sitting in the center of the rows. Once the previews started to play, Kurt put the armrest between them up, scooted closer to Dave, and put his hand on Dave’s thigh with his palm turned upward. Dave got the hint and put his hand over the top of Kurt’s. As soon as he did, Kurt interlaced their fingers.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“So, there’s this place I like to go. It’s like what Guy Fieri would consider a ‘dive’, but it’s actually clean and the food is really good. No one from McKinley ever goes there.”

“Sure. If you like it, let’s go there. Did you like the movie?” Kurt put his seatbelt on.

Dave clicked his and started to back up. “I did. Did you?”

“Yeah.”

They talked about the movie for a while, and then Kurt changed the subject.

“Tell me about the dive we’re going to.”

“It’s just one of those places that’s been around forever and no one has ever bothered to change the look of the place. It serves diner food. My favorite is the beef Manhattan. But the chicken potpie is really good. The chicken fried pork chops with green beans is good. There’s chili, vegetable soup, chicken noodle soup. I’m sure they have salads, but most of the time I order the beef Manhattan.”

“Sounds like the kind of place we see on old TV shows.”

“It is. It’s got a counter where you can sit if you’re by yourself. A pie case. Vinyl everywhere.”

“Sounds fun.”

“You’re a lot more easy going than I had imagined.”

“Being on the defensive all the time doesn’t lend itself to being easy going.”

“No, I suppose not.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The waitress walked away with their orders and returned a couple of minutes later with their drinks.

Dave looked up when the bell on the door jingled. “Oh, fuck.”

“What?” Kurt looked where he was looking.

“Just ignore them. Maybe they won’t notice us.”

“I don’t know any of them.”

“They mostly go to North Lima. They go to the church my mom went to.”

Kurt ignored their existence. It wasn’t long before the waitress brought their food out. Kurt had opted for the chicken potpie. He cut into it and let it cool a bit.

“It smells fantastic.”

“I hope you like it.”

“Yours looks good too.”

“Take a bite.” Dave cut a bite off and slid it to the edge of his plate.

“Are you sure you want me to? That’s very date-like and not very platonic. How concerned you were about those guys?”

“I don’t think they’ll do anything to get the police called on them. That would not go over well with their families. The worst thing is the gossiping. I doubt my mom told anyone the whole truth about why she left. I’m imagining that anyone she tells will hear how her parents needed someone to care for them and as the youngest child it fell to her and how fortunate she was that I’m old enough to take care of myself since she’s needed there.”

“I see. So, those guys going and spreading gossip about us being on a date will ruin your mom’s version of the truth.”

“Yeah. I wouldn’t care if it were all over with, but that won’t be for about a month.”

“Alright, then. You are and are just friends. I’ll try the beef Manhattan the next time we come and I’m going to act as straight as I possibly can. If they come over, you can introduce me as a fellow football team member.”

“I didn’t join the team yet.”

“They don’t know that.”

“True.”

“So, after dinner, back to my house to drop me off and then you’re going home, right?”

“I guess so. I’m not really looking forward to going there. It’s going to be weird with all of her stuff gone.”

“Well, if you’re not ready to face that alone, we can see if my dad will let me go home with you or you can ask your dad to let you stay again tonight.”

“I feel bad with him being home alone. Let me see what he thinks about you coming home with me. I don’t want to be one of those guys who texts people while he’s out on a date though.”

“This is different. Go ahead. You’re not chitchatting about some football game on TV that you’re missing while you’re out with me.”

“Never.”

Kurt smiled at that.

Dave texted his dad and put his phone back down on the table.

“Plus, you texting while we’re eating definitely makes this look less like a date to those guys.”

Dave’s phone pinged and he picked it up. “He says you’re always welcome to stay whenever you want.”

Kurt laughed. He lowered his voice to a barely audible level. “I can definitely say that I did not anticipate my first boyfriend’s father to issue a carte blanche for sleepovers.”

“Me neither.”

“Let me see what my dad says.” Kurt texted Burt and laid his phone down on the table and continued to eat. “I loved your song. That was a lot of fun. Rachel complimented you. You should definitely feel special. She doesn’t just hand out compliments like Halloween candy.”

Dave laughed. “She seems pretty uptight about music in general.”

“She’s pretty high-strung it seems. I’ve only known her for a few weeks now - since the beginning of the school year.” Kurt’s phone pinged. He turned it over and read the message. “My dad says it’s okay. I’ll just need to go home and get all of my stuff.”

“Maybe we could just stop and get what you normally use and you can keep it at my place and you won’t have to pack anything but clothes and your school stuff.”

“If you want, that’s fine. I’m supposed to go looking at sofas too. I know it’s not really a traditional date activity, but the sooner I find one my dad likes, the sooner I can refinish the futon and we can put it down in my room.”

“I’m sold. Sofa shopping and then, where? Wal-Mart?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Or Walgreen’s is probably faster since it’s a lot smaller.”

“I’m ready whenever you are. I usually get a slice of pie, but there’s still cake at your house.”

The waitress stopped by and took their plates and laid down two checks. They each picked up their own and headed to the cash register. They paid and left. Dave didn’t hold the door open and let Kurt walk through like he was a girl, which Kurt appreciated.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt cut Dave a slice of the cake and packed one up for Paul. He left the last slice for Burt. While Dave was eating his slice, Kurt ran downstairs quickly and gathered up everything he needed, which didn’t take long because they had already been to Walgreen’s. He was back upstairs by the time Dave was putting the plate in the dishwasher. Dave picked up Paul’s slice of cake. Kurt yelled up the stairs that he was leaving. He grabbed his school stuff out of the Navigator, got in Dave’s truck, and they left.

Kurt could feel Dave’s unease as he unlocked the front door. Kurt pushed it closed and locked it once they were inside. He took the shopping bags, his overnight bag, and his school stuff up to Dave’s room. Dave went to look for Paul.

Dave didn’t come upstairs for about 20 minutes. By the time he did, Kurt was getting out of the shower. He had a towel wrapped around him when he peeked out the door. Dave gave him a big smile and he opened the box in the closet and got another pair of his old pajamas pants and a t-shirt out and handed them to Kurt. While Kurt got dressed and brushed his teeth, Dave moved the other few remaining pairs of pajama pants and a few more t-shirts to his pajama drawer, thinking just how surreal everything felt. He closed the box up and shut the closet.

He grabbed his own sleepwear and headed into the bathroom when Kurt came out. When he came back out, Kurt was sitting at his desk doing homework. He looked at Kurt and saw flashes of how things could be if could manage to not screw up the best thing in his life – the two of them somewhere away from Lima living together and going to college. He smiled.

“Whatcha smiling about?” Kurt asked when he turned to look at Dave.

“You.”

“Well ‘me’ has a bunch of Algebra 2 problems to do and I’m sure that you have pre-calculus problems. And I know we both have some kind of essay thing due in English on Wednesday and we have football afterschool tomorrow.”

“How about at least a few kisses and then I promise to be very studious.”

Kurt got up and wrapped his arms around Dave’s next and raised up and they kissed for a couple of minutes. You can have lots more kisses when we go to bed, but you have to do your homework. I won’t be the cause of your GPA dropping.”

“Yes, sir.”

Kurt laughed. “Whatever. Just get it done so we can snuggle.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Are you done yet?”

“Not quite.”

Kurt moved around restlessly. “How much longer?”

“An extra minute for every time you ask me.”

Kurt rolled his eyes.

Fifteen minutes later, Dave was finally done. He put his books in his backpack, turned he lights off, and got in bed.

“Finally.”

“You ARE a hard nosed taskmaster.”

“I thought that was part of the charm, remember? Sassy, bitchy diva?”

“Oh, I remember alright.” He kissed Kurt.

“Were you going slow on purpose just to get me to fuss at you?”

“Who me?”

“What’s your middle name?”

“Allen.”

“David Allen Karofsky. Do not do things to intentionally make me fuss at you.”

“I’ll try, but that tone of voice. God, it drives me nuts. It just makes me want to pull you close and kiss you.”

“Well, we could have gotten to the kissing sooner if you had focused.” Kurt kissed him as soon as he was close enough.

“Mmm hmm,” he mumbled as he pressed his lips to Kurt’s again. “Focusing on math problems when there’s a sexy guy in my bed is hard to do.” He resumed the kissing. He followed Kurt’s lead because he didn’t want to push. He was pleasantly surprised when Kurt licked at his bottom lip. He relaxed and let Kurt start to explore as he did the same.

They heard a soft knock on the door. They rolled onto their backs.

“Come in,” Dave called out.

Paul opened the door. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t realized that you had gone to bed already.” He stopped in the doorway and stood there.

“It’s okay. We just lay down about five minutes ago. We hadn’t fallen asleep yet.”

“I was just wondering how today went at school.”

“Well, Z and I sang and joined Glee Club. The people that have been bullied weren’t thrilled, but the club has an ‘anyone can join’ policy, so we’re in. I mean Finn and Puck used to be part of the bullying. They only quit since they joined Glee Club.”

Kurt said, “I saw Azimio corner one of the seniors that was probably waiting to slushie me today. He got him to back off.”

“I’m joining the football team tomorrow afternoon. So, we’ll see how that goes.”

“Sounds good. I filed all of the paperwork today. It should all be finalized in less than a month since it’s a mutual decision.”

“At least she’s making it easy,” Dave said.

“You have no idea. She could drag it out for years. It happens all the time when couples can’t agree. I won’t keep the two of you up. I just wanted to make sure you’re doing okay.”

“It’s like it didn’t happen yet. She goes places for a few days at a time often enough that it just feels like that right now. And no one knows yet. I’m sure it will hit me more later.”

“Yeah. Me too. Right now, it doesn’t feel much different than her regular retreats or visits to her family. We’ll get through it though.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll let you guys get some sleep.” He pulled the door back shut.

“Come here. Lay your head on my chest. I know I’m smaller, but I can still hold you, if you’ll let me.”

Dave scooted over and Kurt moved his arm so that Dave could get comfortable. Kurt wrapped his arm around Dave’s shoulder and ran his fingers through the back of Dave’s hair. He reached across his own chest and put his hand on Dave’s upper arm.

“I’m here for you. If you want to talk or if you want to just be held.” He kissed to top of Dave’s head. “Just remember she made a choice. You didn’t push her away. This has everything to do with her, not you.” Kurt could feel Dave just barely nod. He kissed the top of his head again. Kurt could feel tears wetting the t-shirt he had on. He lay still and held Dave until they fell asleep.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They left for school early the next morning and arrived before most of the students. Dave headed to talk to Coach Tanaka and Kurt went to the library to work on his English essay. They didn’t see each other until World History. Dave sat in the back, as usual and Kurt did his best to focus and not look back at Dave.

At lunch, Kurt was hoping that Dave would sit with him, but he sat with the football team next to Azimio. That let Kurt know that Coach Tanaka had let him join the team.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

As soon as school was out, Kurt put his books in his locker and went to the locker room to get ready for football practice. He stepped in the locker room and he felt eyes on him from all around the room. He froze. Mike and Matt came in behind him and nearly tripped over him.

Mike said, “Move, Kurt. You’re blocking the door.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.” He stepped to the left and let them walk past.

Mike looked around. “Why are you all staring at Kurt? I thought we got over this last week. He can kick. We need a kicker.”

“No more fucking Beyoncé.”

“Fine,” Kurt said. “No more dancing. Is that it?”

“You’ll wait until the rest of us have showered – in the hall.”

“Fine.”

“We took the liberty of moving your stuff to the soccer team’s part of the locker room.”

“Just show me where it is.”

Azimio walked in. “What’s going on?”

“The guys were giving me the ‘Welcome to the team tour’. Someone was about to show me where my stuff is.”

“Why isn’t it where it already was?”

“I’ve been moved to the soccer section of the locker room.”

Azimio looked around. “Why?”

“Azimio, you know why. Let’s just get on with this. Show me where my stuff is so I can get changed. I have no interest in making Coach Tanaka so upset that he makes us ALL run laps.”

“Dude, in the middle of the row you’re standing near.”

Kurt looked down the row. Most the lockers didn’t have locks on them since it wasn’t soccer season.

“Against the wall.”

Kurt shifted his gaze. Only one locker in the center had a lock on it. He walked down the row and opened it. He pulled his stuff out and started to change. As soon as he was done, he sat down on the bench in the middle of the aisle. Dave came in the door and headed to his locker, but paused and turned and went back after it registered that Kurt was sitting by himself.

“Kurt?”

“Go get dressed. I’ve been exiled to the soccer section to keep my potential gawking to a minimum.”

“What?”

“The guys moved my stuff away from where they change. I’m also not allowed in the room after practice until they’ve all finished showering.”

Dave walked back up the aisle and over to the locker he had been assigned, where he had put his stuff that morning. He pulled it all out, closed the locker, and walked back to where Kurt was. He opened he locker next to Kurt’s, checked that it was actually empty, and shoved his stuff inside.

“You don’t have to do this. It’s okay.”

“What the hell Karofsky?” He heard from the other side.

“Fuck off, Williams.”

Dave changed and put his stuff inside the locker and locked it.

“Obviously the locks are a joke. They moved my stuff, including the locked lock over here before I got here.”

“Let’s go out to the field. I’m not going to tell them in here where we have very little chance of defending ourselves if they take it badly.”

Kurt followed Dave out of the locker room to the bleachers outside. It wasn’t long before the rest of the team joined them. Coach Tanaka came out and started their warm-up drills. Once they were finished, they grabbed a drink and sat down.

“As everyone can see Karofsky joined the team this morning. He’ll be our right guard. He’s big and fast. We’ll see if we can’t get the ball to where it’s supposed to go easier by keeping Finn from being tackled. And there won’t be anymore foolish dancing. I’ve also added practice on Thursday afternoons.”

“That’s when Glee rehearses,” Finn pointed out.

“I don’t care. Make your choice Hudson. You losers want to prance around with Schuester, be my guest, but we’ll be practicing and if you’re not here, you’re cut.”

“Dude, that’s not fair.”

“Lots of things aren’t fair. Make your choice.”

Azimio stood. Mike, Matt, and Puck followed. Dave and Kurt stood as well. Finn was the last to stand because he had zoned out for a second.

“There are 7 of us. That’s like a third of the team. When you kick us off on Thursday, you won’t have enough people to play Friday night. Think about that.” Azimio motioned for them to follow him.

They started to follow him. Coach Tanaka stood there looking completely flummoxed. “Since when are you part of the Glee Club, Adams?”

“Since I joined. And I’m staying. You can figure it out. Maybe there’s some freshmen who didn’t make the cut that still wanna play. It’s no skin off our noses to walk away from a losing team. It’s not like we’re ever gonna get scouted with your lousy leadership.”

“You watch your tongue.”

“Or what? You’ll kick me off the team? You already made that choice.” Azimio walked away with the others following behind.

Strando stood up. “Knock it off, Coach. We need them to play. We actually WON last week. If we keep it up, we might actually get some scouts out.”

Smithson spoke up. “We don’t care that the kicker’s a fag or gay or whatever. We want to win. Some teams have girls that kick for them.” He stood up and walked toward the others.

Several other guys stood. “There’s no point in practicing if you’re kicking them off. We can’t play without them. I’m gonna go.” One of them said.

“SIT DOWN!” Coach Tanaka yelled.

They kept moving.

One of them got really mouthy. “We don’t care that you can’t get the guidance counselor to let you bone her. We want to play football. Get over your issues with Schuester. I don’t care if Miss P shacks up with him AND his wife. Get over yourself.”

“Fine. No practice on Thursdays. All of you get back over here and sit down.”

Kurt smarted off as he walked past the coach with his arms folded across his chest. “If you want to get a woman, try dressing like a man. This look,” he looked Coach up and down, “Says… I’m too stupid to know how to dress myself and I need a mother, not a girlfriend.”

“Shut up, Hummel. I didn’t ask your opinion.”

Puck spoke up. “Hey, dude. Ever notice that the GIRLS actually LIKE Hummel? You might try taking his advice. Smell nice, dress nice, and act nice to girls. It certainly couldn’t hurt. Everyone with a brain can see that Miss P is a germophobe and you look like you’re in need of a can of Lysol.”

“Burn…”

“Shut up, Puckerman.”

“Hey, just trying to point out the obvious. Maybe you need glasses. Cause damn, if you look in the mirror each morning and think that you look good dressed like that? You are blind.”

“I said shut up.”

Puck kept mouthing off. “Look dude, there was a regime change over the weekend. We’re tired of getting our asses kicked and being known as Lima Losers. So, from now on, you get it together and coach us to win, or we’ll do it ourselves. And well, the fashion advice and the help with getting a date, that’s just extras we’re offering. You can take it or leave it. You’re not running the show anymore. Either you help us win or you can quit and the school will hire us a new coach. Maybe one who knows how to come up with winning plays.”

Coach Tanaka just stood there.

Puck yelled. “Everybody up! We’re running laps, except Hummel and… you two.” Puck pointed to two of the freshmen. “Get some footballs and get out on the field. You…”

“Carlson.”

“Yeah. Carlson. Hold the ball for Hummel to kick and you…”

“Morris.”

“You get to retrieve them after he’s kicked. Go!” Puck yelled.

Everyone else started running around the football field. Coach Tanaka just stood there, stunned.

Twenty minutes later, they stopped and got drinks and sat back down. Kurt saw them and the three that hadn’t been running laps joined the others. Azimio, Dave, and Puck sat at the front. Kurt sat down next to Dave.

Azimio spoke up, “You got until tomorrow to come up with some decent ideas. We’ll bring some of our own. I’m not interested in losing Friday night.”

Dave took a deep breath and stood. Kurt knew what was going to happen next.

“I’ll be joining Kurt in waiting until the rest of you all have showered since you’ve decided that gay guys aren’t welcome in the locker room.”

“Wait, what?” Strando asked.

“Dude, you’re gay?”

Kurt couldn’t tell who had asked.

“Yeah. I’m gay. Get over it. I’m not interested in any of your ugly mugs anyway. And so help me God, if any of you lays a hand on Kurt, it will be the last time you use it for a while.”

Azimio got up and stood next to him. “Being gay doesn’t change the fact that D here can kick most of your asses. And the few of you he can’t handle by himself, well, I got his back. So, don’t even think about it.”

“You can’t be serious,” one of the seniors said.

“I’m completely serious, jackass. Try me.” Azimio said.

“We’ll dress in the soccer section of the locker room. We’ll wait until you all finish showering, if that’s what you want. We have no interest in making any of you feel like you’re being watched ‘cause we’re not interested. But that’s it. No fag jokes. And don’t even think about coming after either one of us. My dad’s a lawyer, and unlike Kurt who protected your sorry asses all last year, I won’t keep it to myself.”

There was a lot of grumbling.

“Make up your minds. Kurt and I can bail or you can chill the fuck out and get over it.”

“So you two are dating?” Strando asked.

“Yeah.”

“Fine. I’m fine,” Strando said. “We have a better chance of winning with you two on the team.”

“So, that’s 8 now. That leaves about 16 of you to make up your minds.”

Matt, Mike, Puck, and Finn moved to stand with Strando. The freshmen and sophomores moved to stand with them.

Azimio looked at the group that was still sitting. “So, that leaves the 7 of you. Are you gonna grow the fuck up and mind your own damn business and help make this a winning football team for the first time since the early 90s or does it matter so much to you that D likes to kiss Kurt that you can’t get over it and play as part of the team. He done said he don’t wanna kiss any of your ugly mugs. So, what will it be?”

One of the seniors finally broke rank. “Look, we’ve already fallen lower than the puckheads. I want back on top. If Karofsky wants to kiss Hummel, what’s it to me? But I’m not up for all of them quitting and leaving us without enough people to even have a team. We’ll be bottom feeders with the puckheads ruling the school. I am NOT down with that.” He got up and moved with the group that was standing.

“My mom hates gay people. She’ll probably make me quit the team if she finds out that there are gay guys on the team. I can’t change with them. I’m not stupid enough to think it’s contagious, but is there some other solution than them sharing the locker room with us?”

“Not that I know of. Other than us just waiting until you all leave,” Dave said.

“I don’t know, man.”

Puck said, “Well, the rest of you can figure it out before tomorrow and let us know. If you show up, we’ll expect you to just go on like none of this a big deal.”

The rest of the group that had been standing sat back down, except Azimio.

“So, tomorrow. Be prepared to run plays. We’ll be scrimmaging. Defensive line will do strength and endurance training while the offense will attempt to learn a few new plays. We’ll run the plays against our own defensive line for practice. Kurt and the second-string freshmen will keep working on his kicking. He doesn’t need to bulk up to kick.” He walked off toward the locker room. Everyone got up to follow him.

Coach Tanaka just stood there.

“I was serious about this look,” Kurt said. “If you want help, let me know. Just in case you’re too dumb to know, Miss P probably has OCD. She’s not going to just get over the germ and dirt thing. And you look like you’re allergic to personal hygiene. It’s never going to happen with you like that.” Kurt looked him up and down again.

He and Dave walked to the locker room together. They waited outside for 15 minutes before going in and showering and changing.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt fastened his seatbelt and rolled his window down. Dave pulled out of the parking lot. “My house? Yours?”

“I’m actually supposed to work a few hours at the shop this afternoon. You can do your homework in the lounge if you want or I can call you when I get off. I know you’ve got that English essay to do.”

“What do you do at the shop?”

“Fix cars.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. We’re already running late. How about you just drop me off? You can think about what you want to do while I get started.”

“Sure.”

A few minutes later, Dave pulled up and Kurt hopped out and hurried inside the shop.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When Kurt finished working his shift, he hadn’t heard from Dave and he looked outside in the parking lot and he wasn’t there. He texted him.

\--Should I ride home with my dad?

\--I’m sorry. I lost track of time. I’m at the library. I needed some books for my World History project.

\--Oh. Me too. I’ll walk over there.

Ten minutes later, Kurt walked in. He started looking through the books and found a few that looked like they might be good. He checked them out and then went and sat at the table Dave was sitting at.

“I left my stuff at the shop. I didn’t feel like schlepping it over here.”

“Well, your dad invited my dad over to watch _Deadliest Catch_ this evening. The invitation included me. So, we’ll swing by the shop and get your stuff and go to your place.”

“Let’s go then. My dad will want dinner soon. I have to go cook. I usually go straight home when I get off and I’ve usually half prepped whatever I’m making the night before and I didn’t do that, so I need to get started soon.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They walked in the door and Kurt walked straight through the living room and down into his room and dropped everything at the bottom of the stairs. Dave followed him, but was stopped in the living room on his way down. He stopped halfway down the stairs.

“Come on back up. They ordered Chinese. You don’t have to cook.”

“I’ll be right up.” Kurt took another fast shower, put on sweats, grabbed his school bag and the library books and went back upstairs. Dave was sitting in the living room with their dads, but Kurt walked through the kitchen and into the dining room and put his stuff on the table. He went back into the kitchen, picked his food up, and took it back into the dining room.

A few minutes later, Dave came in the room and put his food down next to Kurt’s. He leaned over and gave Kurt a quick kiss and sat down next to him.

“You can watch the show with them if you want. I don’t mind. I was just going to start looking through those library books to see if I can find what I need. But you’re welcome to sit with me if you want to.”

“I’ll go get the books I checked out. I’d rather watch the show, but I joined a new club this week, which means I need to use my time wisely because I want time left in my schedule to spend with you.” He kissed Kurt gently again and left the room.

When he came back, he was quiet and started looking through the library books. Kurt slid his post-it note page markers where Dave could reach them. When the show was over, Paul came in and asked Dave to go home, not stay over. Paul headed home. Dave stacked his stuff up and leaned to give Kurt a kiss. Kurt met him halfway.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Kurt kissed him again.

Dave headed to his truck and went home.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt went back to the section he was reading to decide whether it was worth marking. He reached for a post-it, put it in, and shut the book.

Burt came in the room and sat down in the chair at the end of the table. “I think it’s time we had the talk.”

“What? No, Dad. It’s not.”

“Yes, it is. I realized over the weekend that I’ve let my parenting slip. You said something about the sex ed part of your health book only had two pages and it mostly just said ‘Don’t have sex.’ That’s not a reasonable sex ed course.”

“Of course it’s not, but a lot of people still believe that educating teens about sex encourages them to HAVE sex, so they just put scary stuff about STIs in the health book thinking that they can scare kids into celibacy, but instead, they just end up with girls like Quinn getting pregnant because teens have sex whether or not anyone tells them how to do it safely. It’s not like it takes a college degree to figure out how to stick a”

Burt cut him off. “I get it. So, I realized that I was not doing my job in educating you or myself on how it works for two guys. So, um, I went down to the clinic today and they actually had these nice pamphlets that explain the whole process quite clearly. I got two sets. Paul and I read them before we watched the show tonight. He took his set home and I would imagine that by now, he and Dave are having an equally awkward conversation.”

“Oh, God.”

“Well, the two of you mean everything to us and we want you to be smart and safe.”

“Dad, I told you that I’m NOT ready for that. We do not need to have this talk.”

“Hey, you think this is easy for me? Believe me. I want to do this even less than you do. This is going to suck for both of us, but we are going to get through it together and we will both be better men because of it.”

Kurt took a deep breath and resigned himself to the fact that there was no getting out of it.

Burt slid the pamphlets toward Kurt. “Most of the mechanics of what you’re going to be doing is covered in the pamphlets, so I want you to read them and then I want you to come talk to me about it.”

Kurt made brief eye contact and stood to take the pamphlets with him.

“Hey, sit down. We’re just getting started.”

Kurt sat back down, but looked away again.

“You know for most guys, sex is just, you know, it’s this thing we always want to do. You know, it’s fun. It feels great. But we’re not really thinking too much about, you know, about, about how it makes us feel on the inside or, you know, or how the other person feels about it.”

“Women are different?”

“Only because they get that it’s about something more than just the physical. You know, when you’re intimate with somebody in that way, you’re exposing yourself. You’re never going to be more vulnerable. With two guys, you’ve got two people who think that sex is just sex. It’s going to be easier to come by and once you start doing this stuff, you’re not going to want to stop. You just, you’ve got to know that it means something. You know, it’s doing something to you, to your heart, to your self-esteem – even though it feels like you’re just having fun.”

“So, you’re saying I shouldn’t have sex?”

“I think on your 30th birthday, it is a great gift to yourself.”

Kurt rolled his eyes.

“Kurt, when you’re ready, I want you to… be able to do everything. But when you’re ready, I want you to use it as a way to connect to another person. Don’t just throw yourself around like you don’t matter… ‘cause you matter, Kurt.”

Kurt nodded. “Is that it?”

“That’s all – for now. I just want you to know that you can come to me. And I won’t judge you. If I don’t know the answers to your questions, I’ll find someone who does. I don’t want you to have to rely on the internet and possibly get yourself hurt.”

“I got it, Dad. Thanks for going to get these. Is it okay if I go ahead downstairs and look at them on my own?”

“Yeah, sure kiddo. I just want you to know that I love you and I’m here for you.” Burt stood and pulled Kurt into a hug.

“I know. I love you too, Dad.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next afternoon in practice, Puck grabbed a bag of footballs and yelled, “Come on, Hummel. Time to kick.” The two freshmen that had helped before followed along behind. “You two go down to the other end for now.” They ran off toward the end zone.

“Look, Hummel. I needed to talk to you for a few minutes. Karofsky cornered me this morning and gave me an earful. He was right about a lot of stuff and it pissed me off, but then I thought about it. You need to know that I never did all that stuff to you in middle school and last year because you’re gay. I don’t care where you stick your dick. You were such a snob. I never knew your mom died when you were a kid. I just saw your dad show up to everything. I’d see you out around town with him. I was fucking jealous okay? My dad ran off years ago and we’re on food stamps and Section 8. You wore fancy clothes and you got that fancy SUV at the beginning of the school year. I just, well I was just a jackass about it. You never did anything personal to me. Actually, I don’t think you ever even spoke to me.”

“I didn’t really speak to anyone. I wasn’t a snob. I just didn’t talk to anyone. I didn’t think I was better than everyone else. Actually, I thought that I was absolutely worthless. I had no friends. I took over my mother’s role at home. I learned to do laundry, to cook, to sew, all the stuff she did because my dad was too busy running the shop to have time to do that stuff too. So, I went home from school and did laundry and cleaned house. I did my homework. I made dinner. The girls didn’t invite me to anything. I didn’t get invited to do anything with the guys. I was nothing. I was no one. So through 5th grade, I mostly just got ignored. Then in middle school, I met you. You and the rest of the jackasses decided to pick on me for no apparent reason. I accept your statement that you didn’t do those things because I was gay. You were just a jackass and mean.”

“Yeah. I get that. But I don’t want to be that person anymore either. It’s not like I have any role models on how to be a decent person. Maybe if I did, it would help. Tanaka sure as hell doesn’t count. And Schuester, well I guess that remains to be seen, but he walked right past when we were dumpster tossing you a month or two ago and didn’t say a damn word about it.”

“I know. I was there.”

“Anyway, I’m not going to hassle you anymore.”

“Thanks. What about your mom? You said something about no good role models.”

“Yeah, I’m thinking that the woman who made my 7-year old sister sit and watch _Schindler’s List_ with us for Simchat Torah last year shouldn’t make anyone’s role model list. I pushed for my sister to go live with my nana in Columbus. She’s going to a nice school and she’s a lot better off there. My ma told me I was as bad as the people in _Schindler’s List_ for not dating a Jewish girl. I’m not into dating anyway. I’m a sex shark. Anyway, she’s not making the mother of the year list any time soon.”

Kurt just nodded.

“Kick the ball before someone realizes we aren’t doing anything.”

Kurt kicked a few balls in a row.

“I gotta go. Azimio showed me the plays at lunch, but I gotta get in place. I see them moving into position down there. You better get off the field before you get run over.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt sat and watched them run the plays. He thought they looked better than the ones they used the week before, but he didn’t think his opinion counted for much. Once they were finished, the rest of the team grabbed something to drink and sat down along the edge of the field.

Azimio asked, “So we run these plays Friday night and see how it goes? Everyone got them down?”

A lot of mumbled affirmative answers and nodding came from the group.

“I also came up with a solution for the locker room. We let the two of them leave first. They shower and move to the soccer area. Problem solved. There are two of them. It will take them like 5 minutes to be out of our way. If we do it the other way, they’ll be hanging around forever just waiting to shower.”

No one complained.

“So, go! Get showered. Move it.”

Kurt and Dave got up and headed into the locker room. They showered and moved to their lockers. They grabbed their stuff and sat facing opposite of each other on the bench, neither one of theme ready to be completely naked that close to each other. They dressed quickly and left the locker room before most of the guys had finished showering.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave walked with Kurt out the building and through the parking lot.

“Do you have to work this afternoon?”

“Yeah. I work Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. I probably need to add Mondays because I’m not going to have enough money if I don’t. I was working three hours a day, three days a week. But since I joined football I have practice and games, I can only work two hours instead of three on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.”

“What do you mean by not enough money?”

“I have to pay for my phone, my car insurance, and my own clothes and non-necessities. Like the expensive shampoo I like. My dad gave me an allotment of money for personal stuff and it’s not enough to buy the brands I like. So, I have to pay myself. Things going out to eat and gas my Navigator. Just the regular stuff.”

“Oh. My dad just gives me money. I don’t even know how much car insurance is.”

“A lot. Basically, a whole week’s pay when I was working 9 hours a week.”

“So, when we went to the movies and dinner Monday.”

“I paid for all it myself.”

“I see. So, I’ll call you or text you later, then. I don’t want to make you late.”

“Okay.” Kurt climbed in the driver’s side and rolled the window down. He kept his voice low. “I wish I could kiss you. Call me.”

Dave nodded and stepped back so Kurt could pull out of the parking spot.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave turned to walk toward his truck and five of the puckheads came out from their position behind the dumpster. They cornered Dave up against the side of his truck.

“So, the rumors are true. The great and mighty Karofsky is a fag. We won’t take orders from a fag. We don’t want you to come back to the team. Consider this your only warning. We heard that you and Azimio and the Glee losers banded together to stop the bullying. Well, you should know that we’re going to bring it. You and those losers are going down.”

One of them put a cloth laundry bag over his head and pulled it closed at the bottom, and then wrapped his arm around Dave’s neck and held him in position while the other four punched him. Once he’d lost his ability to fight back, they grabbed him and managed to carry him around back to the taller dumpsters and tossed him in. He landed in a pile of trash bags that promptly busted open leaving him lying in the remnants of the vegetable soup that was served for lunch that everyone had rejected.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt got a text from a caller blocking their number and he debated even opening it, but he wiped his hands off and checked.

\--Get to Lima Memorial now. The puckheads attacked Dave. He’s leaving the school in an ambulance. I took pictures. I don’t want caught in the middle, but I will provide photos. I didn’t intervene because there were five of them and one of me. I’ll email them to you.

He still had no idea who it was that texted him, but he headed to the sink and actually cleaned his hands so he could use his phone. He called his dad and asked him to call Paul. He told Cassius that he had an emergency and he left. He got to the hospital about the same time Paul did since his office was closer than the shop. He was almost to the ER department. Kurt ran to catch up with him on the way in.

“What happened?”

“All I know is that I got a text saying that the puckheads attacked Dave and that he was leaving the school in an ambulance. I didn’t have your number so I had my dad call you. I don’t even know who texted me. Obviously, someone I know because the person had my cell phone number.”

Paul walked directly to the reception area. “My son was brought in by ambulance from McKinley.”

“I’ll need ID.”

He pulled out his wallet and showed her his driver license.

“This way. Family only.”

Kurt stepped away to go toward the waiting room. Paul grabbed his arm and pulled him along. They were led into a triage area where a nurse was checking him over.

“From what I can see, he’s mostly just banged up. Maybe a slight concussion, but that will be up to the doctor to determine. His throat is sore, but he can speak. The doctor will be in as soon as possible.”

Kurt walked over to him and took his hand. “I’m so sorry Dave.”

Dave’s voice was raspy. “You didn’t do anything.”

“But if you hadn’t come out, no one would have done this to you.”

“Kurt, please stop,” Paul said. “This is not your fault. You know that, if you actually stop and think.”

Tears flowed down Kurt’s cheeks. He was silent because he knew Paul was right, but he still felt like arguing the point. Kurt showed Paul the text message that he had gotten.

“Excellent. That will make this a lot easier.”

They waited about 10 minutes for the doctor to come in. He examined Dave thoroughly.

“He’s going to be really sore until all the bruising heals. I’m going to go ahead and order a chest x-ray to make sure his ribs aren’t fractured or broken. I don’t see any evidence that anything else needs x-rayed. He doesn’t have a concussion.”

“Thank you,” Paul said.

The doctor nodded and left.

A few minutes later, an orderly came and pushed Dave’s bed to the imaging department. Paul and Kurt sat down to wait. Paul pulled his phone out and texted Burt.

“I let your dad know that Dave’s okay.”

“Thanks. They had to have grabbed him right after I pulled out of the lot. They had to have been behind the dumpster or something because there was no one in the lot when we came out.”

“Well, if whoever texted you actually sends the photos, that will make a big difference. Otherwise it’s just a case of Dave’s word against theirs.”

“I’ve been on the other end enough times to know there’s no way to win that fight. I’ve been dumpster tossed numerous times. Mostly just in the smaller dumpsters out front, but a few times in the bigger ones. My dad doesn’t know. Don’t tell him, please. Let me do it, if it’s going to be done.”

“Alright. But I think you should tell him.”

“Maybe some day. Let me give you my number so you can text me your email address, so that once I get home I can forward the photos to you.”

Paul texted Kurt. “I should have given you my number already.”

“I didn’t think they go after him so quickly. He hasn’t done anything publicly with me where anyone could see. But obviously someone on the football team spread the word around already. I’d suggest that he stay home from school the rest of the week. Getting shoved into lockers when you’re already covered in bruises really hurts. Normally, I think he’s big enough to stand his ground when shoved, but with all the bruises, he’s going to flinch and they’ll be able to knock him off balance more easily.”

“Please tell me that Dave didn’t do those things to you.”

“He mostly just said mean things after someone else had been the one to push me or slushie me. We’ve talked about it.”

“I know that he likes you a lot, but I can’t in good conscience let him date you if he’s actually hurt you before.”

“He insulted my clothes, my shoes, my haircut, my bags, scarves, and stuff like that. He never actually pushed me or injured me. He insulted my stuff.”

“Okay.”

“I spent time thinking about it on Saturday. He was always around when people were doing things. So, I suppose that he could have stopped it, but not really. Him against a group – that’s what we saw today. If he had stood up to them, this would have just happened sooner. I just let them get away with what they did because giving them a small sense of superiority at the expense of my outfit or whatever what a lot better than getting a broken jaw or arm or whatever for ratting them out. They always get away with it because they rally together and always alibi each other out or tell the same lie so that they have witnesses to back their account of what happened. This is a little different because this was a warning. He knows who did this and it was meant to put him in his place. Since they thought they were alone, they will expect a penitent version of Dave at school Friday who will kowtow to their demands. And I’m sure the threat will be that they will target me, if he stands up to them. They’ve found Dave’s weakness.”

“You knew this was coming.”

Kurt leaned down and propped his head on his hands. “I told him. He knew. He wanted to go through with it anyway. Brave and stupid?”

Paul laughed.

“I don’t know what the right course of action is. I would be inclined to think that threatening them is probably the best thing. Keeping them scared is probably better than punishing them. They’ll retaliate for being punished.”

“We’ll talk about it.”

They sat in silence until Dave was brought back from x-ray. Once his bed was back in position, Kurt stood up and walked around to the other side and took his hand again. He saw his hand still had food bits stuck to it. “I’m surprised they didn’t stick you in the decontamination shower.”

Dave laughed. “I wonder how much extra that would be. It would sure save a lot of time at home.”

“Why don’t I go get you some clothes and you can ask them to let you shower before you leave since there’s no way you can leave in what you came in wearing?”

Paul said, “That’s a good idea. Just go down the street to the Dollar General and buy some pajama pants and a t-shirt.” He pulled out his wallet and handed Kurt a $20 bill.

“I’ll be right back.” Kurt left and went straight to the store.

“Someone got pictures of what happened. We’ll need to discuss what you want to do. Kurt seems to think that threatening to do something will be more effective than doing anything. But we all need to talk about it. Neither one of you will be going to school tomorrow.”

Dave closed his eyes and tried to rest.

A few minutes later, a nurse stopped in. “I have some pain medication for you.” She walked closer and handed Dave a tiny cup with a couple of pills in it and a cup of water.

He swallowed them and before she could leave, he asked, “Is there a way I can shower? Someone went to get me some clothes, but I can’t get the car like this.”

“Sure. I’ll be back for you in just a minute. I need to make sure the bathroom with the shower in it is empty.” She came back a couple of minutes later. “Do you need a wheel chair or can you walk?”

“I’m pretty sure I can walk.” He sat up and winced, but managed to get up out of the bed to follow her. He grabbed the back of the hospital gown and tried to keep it closed. When he got out of the shower, he put on the clean hospital gown that nurse had laid on the table in the room. He pressed the button like he had been told and opened the door.

“All better?”

“Much. Thank you. The soup is disgusting to eat and I think it’s even worse to be doused it. I can still smell it.”

She laughed. She led him back to the partitioned area where he had been.

He pulled the curtain back and Kurt was back. He saw a pair of lounge pants and t-shirt on the bed. “Can I put these on,” he asked her.

“Sure. The doctor should be back soon.”

Kurt and Paul stood and held the edge of the curtains shut with their backs to him and he changed into the pajamas.

“Done.”

They let go of the curtains and sat back down in the chairs. Dave sat on the end of the bed facing them.

“You look better. I don’t think vegetable soup is anyone’s color,” Kurt said.

Dave rolled his eyes. “Thanks for going to get the clothes.”

“You’re welcome.”

The doctor stepped inside. “Your ribs look fine. Just follow the directions for swelling and pain that the discharge nurse will give you.”

Paul and Dave simultaneously said, “Thanks.”

It didn’t take long and the discharge nurse arrived. Paul signed all of the paperwork and they were ready to leave.

“Let’s all three go up to the school and see if my backpack and duffle bag are still on the ground by my truck. I know I can’t drive it tonight though.”

“I’ve already made arrangements. Kurt is going to drive you back to our house. I’m picking Burt up and the two of us will go collect your truck and hopefully your backpack and duffle. We’ll take photos. Burt will drive your truck back to our house.”

“Okay,” Kurt said. “Let’s get going.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When Kurt and Dave got upstairs, Dave said, “I’m going to take another shower. At the hospital I traded smelling like disgusting soup for hospital disinfectant. I want to shower with my own stuff.” He grabbed some pajamas from his dresser and went in the bathroom.

When he came out Kurt was lying in his bed facing the bathroom door wearing a pair of his old pajama pants and a well-worn t-shirt. He smiled at Dave.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Me too.”

“Wanna snuggle? I’ll hold still and you can scoot up however close you can tolerate or if it hurts too much to lie on your side, I’ll just lie next to you.”

Dave turned the lights off and turned his side lamp on. He grabbed the throw and got in bed. He put the throw over their legs and scooted up behind Kurt. He put his arm around Kurt and took his hand.

“How many times was this done to you?”

“The getting beat up part, not that many. Getting dumpster tossed into the big dumpster, not as many times as the small dumpsters in the parking lot.”

“That wasn’t really an answer.”

“Five.”

“Were you hurt?”

“Of course. If you’re asking whether I went to the doctor or hospital, no. I just waited until they left and hauled myself back out of the dumpster.   I have a couple of those yard waste trash bags under my front seat just in case, but I haven’t had to use them this year. Last year, I just had to walk home and hose off outside before I went in the house. I keep a roll of trash bags and a stack of cheap brown towels inside the door to the garage that leads in from the back yard. I’d strip once I stepped inside and put the clothes in a trash bag. I’d wrap in the towel and go inside and shower and redress before dealing with my clothes. We have a shop sink in our garage. I’d use it to rinse out my clothes before I put them through the washer. Once they’d come out of the washer the first time, I’d treat the stains and rewash them. Last year I only worked at the shop on the weekends since I didn’t have any way to get there after school. And my dad always worked until 7:00. It gave me like three hours to try to clean everything up. The washing machine is in that closet in the short hallway between the kitchen and the dining room. I could multi-task. Make dinner, treat and retreat stains. Read assignments in between.”

“You talk about it so calmly. I’m furious.”

“You’re furious because you don’t feel like you deserved it. You feel like you’ve been treated unfairly. When you grow up invisible until you suddenly become a target, you don’t have that self-esteem or whatever to feel like what’s happening is unfair. There’s this small part of your brain that tells you that it’s unfair, but the rest of your brain says that it is what it is and you’re a bottom feeder. When nothing you can do will change the situation, there is little room for anger. Survival is all that matters. Making it through all the days until high school ends.”

Dave was crying. Kurt could hear him sniveling.

“Do you need me to do something? I can call your dad and tell him to get home with the pain pills because you need them.”

“I’m not crying because I’m in physical pain. I’m crying because of what I’ve done to people. I actually deserve to have this happen to me. Karma and cosmic retribution or something.”

Kurt got up and lay back down facing Dave. He kissed him gently. “No. No one deserves to have this happen to them. End of discussion.”


	4. Chapter 4

Kurt woke up the next morning to his stomach growling. It was light outside and Dave was still asleep. Kurt got up as quietly and smoothly as he could to use to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and splashed some water on his face. He opened the door slowly in an attempt to keep from waking Dave up. He saw a pill bottle on his side of the bed with a bottle of water and a note. He read it and looked at his phone.   He sat down slowly and reached out to Dave. He had a massive black eye and some other bruising on his face. Seeing him like that broke Kurt’s heart. He knew it wasn’t his fault, but he also knew that if Dave had stayed in the closet that it wouldn’t have happened. He gently ran his thumb across Dave’s lips.

“Dave. You’re supposed to take one of these pills.”

“Hmm?” He opened his eyes just a bit. “Oh. Okay.”

Kurt opened the pill bottle and handed him one. Dave propped up a bit and groaned. Kurt twisted the cap off the water bottle and handed it to Dave. He took a swig and washed the pill down.

“I hope taking just one doesn’t knock me out. I don’t want to sleep all day.”

Kurt texted Paul like the note said to – letting him know that they were awake. A few minutes later, Paul came in the room.

“I have breakfast downstairs, if you can come down. If not, I’ll go make you a plate and bring it back up.”

“I’ll come down. Just give me a few minutes to wake up a little bit more.”

Dave stood up and went in the bathroom. He came back out a few minutes later. “I look like hell. God, my eye is going to be black and blue for weeks.”

Kurt stepped closer and stood up on his toes and kissed him gently. “We’ll ice it after we eat.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Burt and Paul were sitting at the table when Kurt and Dave came in the room.

“There’s sausages and stuff in the oven,” Paul said. “Help yourselves. Oh, and they’re turkey sausages.”

“Thank you,” Kurt said.

Dave grabbed two plates. Kurt opened the oven door and used the potholder on the stovetop to pull the glass baking dish out. They took what they wanted and Kurt put the dish back in the oven. They stepped out into the dining room and sat down next to each other. Kurt stood up part of the way and grabbed the orange juice carton and the two glasses and pulled them toward him. He sat back down, poured two glasses of juice, and pushed one toward Dave.

Paul was the first to speak. “I have my laptop here so you can log into your email and just download the photos directly to my computer.”

“Alright. I haven’t checked to see if whoever it was actually sent them to me. I’ll check as soon as we eat.”

“I know who did this,” Dave said. “It’s not like they tried to hide their identities.”

“But the photos will provide proof of what happened.”

“Were my backpack and duffle bag still by my truck?”

“Your backpack was.”

“I guess that’s better than nothing. I’m sure my athletic stuff being taken was part of the punishment. And to help me reconsider wanting to participate in any sports.”

“I’ll just buy you a new duffle and whatever you need. New cleats or whatever was in there. What’s more important is what we’re going to do about it.”

“I don’t know. On one hand, I say get them expelled. On the other, I say give them one chance to stop. Either way, Kurt’s in a lot of danger. He shouldn’t be alone anywhere those jackasses might be. They’re the very type that will blame him and say that he converted me. They’ll make up anything – like I got drunk at the party, he forced himself on me, and now I’m gay. They’re idiots.”

Kurt added, “And sending them to juvie is just like sending them to summer camp for how to be better thugs. They’ll make even worse friends and come out with a bigger vendetta,” Kurt said. “Getting in trouble doesn’t teach them to stop. It teaches them to get even by being even more vindictive under the radar. My stuff isn’t safe at school. The football team moved all of my stuff to a new locker, including my combination lock that was locked onto my locker.”

“Why?” Burt asked.

“Think, Dad. They don’t want me to be able to see them change clothes. They think I’m going to intentionally try to see them naked. First they decided we’d shower last, then now they’ve decided we can shower first and get out of the locker room quickly so they can take their time.”

“The school should just put doors or curtains across the ends of the showers,” Dave said. “That would help quite a bit. Guys could shower without their junk on display. Even when there was no issue of anyone thinking I was gay, it was obvious that a lot of guys were uncomfortable with the open showers. They try to act like they aren’t, but no one wants to be made fun of for having the smallest dick.”

“And if they provided towels that could wrap all the way around the bigger guys, they wouldn’t feel like they were on display walking back to their lockers from the showers,” Kurt added.

“It’s obvious that there’s no point in me thinking about playing hockey this year. The football team was pretty cool about it, even if they are being homophobic about us perving on them.”

“What about pursuing in-school suspension and reimbursement for the hospital trip and the duffle and the items inside?” Kurt asked. “That way, they won’t end up around thugs worse than them. They won’t get a ‘get-out-school-free’ pass like they would with out-of-school suspension days. And maybe some type of athletic team probation, like another toe out of line and they get cut from the hockey team. Maybe that would put pressure on them from the hockey coach to knock it off because having the team down 6 players would be enough to keep them from having enough players or at least cause them to have to take players they would normally reject, making it impossible for them to win this season.”

“The main problem is that Figgins is useless,” Dave said. “He has let them get away with this for ages. The fact that this happened to me, a jock, is the only thing new about this. Well and the fact that you’re a lawyer.” Dave looked at his dad. He slipped his hand under the table and put his hand on Kurt’s leg.

Kurt closed his eyes for a few seconds. “He’s right. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. It’s just the first time that it’s a combination of it happening to a jock, who has a father that’s a lawyer, AND someone managing to take photos of it happening.”

Burt asked, “Who else do you know that this has happened to?”

Dave answered. “The getting beat up first part was a new addition to their repertoire. That’s what made it personal. Mostly it’s the people that are considered ‘bottom feeders’ that get tossed in the dumpsters. I’ve never known it to happen to a girl though, now that I think about it. The male bottom feeders get dumpster tossed.”

Kurt got up, put his plate in the dishwasher, and washed his hands. He sat next to Paul and logged into his email. The photos were there. He downloaded them to the computer and signed back out of his account.

“Now that we have photographic evidence, do you think the other students that have been dumpster tossed by the five guys in those photos would testify?” Paul asked.

Kurt was the one to answer. “If they were subpoenaed and were basically forced to. Otherwise, the code of silence will continue. Everyone knows that if you try to get the bullies in trouble, it just makes your own life worse. And that’s when the bullies don’t actually GET in trouble for what they did. Very few people would even consider speaking up. Why do you think I got the text from an unknown caller who was only willing to send me the photos anonymously? If people were willing to speak up, whoever it was wouldn’t have blocked their outgoing number and would have been willing to just email me the photos from their own personal email account. Whoever it is wants this to stop, but isn’t willing to step out and do something publicly to try to stop it. The bullying has gone on for so long that the victims have given up trying to fight back because their claims are dismissed.”

Burt cut in. “You’re talking like you have a lot of experience. You told me some of the kids at school hassle you. I’m thinking that your definition of hassle and mine aren’t much alike. You came to me a few days ago asking me to basically treat you like an adult – to trust you to tell me the truth. I can’t really do that can I? You’re picking and choosing which part of the truth to tell me. That’s not the same as being honest, is it?”

“Fine. You’re right. I’ve been telling you parts of the truth and representing it as all of the truth.”

“And?”

“And I can’t trust you not to freak out if you know. Grandpa died of a heart attack at 45, leaving you to run the shop on your own at 25. You refused to go to the doctor for a physical and a proper examination for years. I can’t tell you stressful stuff when I don’t know if you can take it. Aunt Mildred and Uncle Andy ringing any bells? And I’m pretty sure that Aunt Mildred has high blood pressure and takes medicine for it. I saw the bottle in her kitchen once.”

“I get it. I’ve done a crap job of taking care of myself and you’ve been trying your whole life to get me to change.”

“A Coke and two Slim Jims is not breakfast.”

“Who are you paying to spy on me at the shop?”

“You went to the doctor Monday and didn’t tell me anything.”

“I have high blood pressure. I had a stress test yesterday and my blood work was back. I have high cholesterol and they detected a heart arrhythmia. I started taking medication yesterday afternoon for the arrhythmia and the blood pressure. The doctor wants me to see I can get my cholesterol down by changing my diet since it’s not that high. I have another appointment next week to see if the heart medicine is working.”

“Thank you. I’m not glad that he found something wrong, but I’m glad that he found something that can be treated before it became life-threatening.”

“I did a lot of thinking yesterday sitting around and waiting. I’m going to pay your car insurance until football season is over. I don’t want you under more stress than is reasonable, especially after this morning’s confession that things are worse at school than you’ve let on. You’re a kid. You can pay for that fancy phone you like so much and your fancy shampoo and lotions. But I’m going to cover your car insurance.”

“Thanks, Dad. I just told Dave yesterday that I was going to have to add working Monday afternoons to my schedule to make up for losing hours to football practice.”

“A month or two of paying your insurance isn’t a big deal and I want you to have time to do your schoolwork and be a kid too, even though I know you’re not a kid.”

“Thanks.”

“Next week, we’re having a confessional. Once I have proof my heart is working properly, you’re going to tell me the whole truth.”

Kurt nodded.

“I have to get to the shop for a while. I was out Monday and yesterday both. You stay here. Do your schoolwork. I still want to go camping and fishing this weekend.”

“Got it, Dad.”

Burt took his dishes into the kitchen, let himself out, and went to work.

“So, you’ve really kept all of this crap to yourself,” Paul half stated, half asked.

“I did. He doesn’t know any of it, except the vandalism stuff. The furniture nailed to the roof and the occasional fag painted on the garage door last year. It was when I started mouthing off to the jocks that they made it more personal by coming to my home and attacking me there, showing me that I wasn’t safe anywhere.”

“And the jocks moving your stuff to a new locker in the locker room has the same effect on you at school.”

“Exactly. No one has messed with my Navigator so far, but it has an alarm on it, so that’s probably the only thing that has saved it.”

“Well, I bought stuff for subs and a veggie tray for the two of you to eat today. I have to go to the office. If you need anything, just text me.” Paul got up and put his stuff away. He grabbed the orange juice and put it back in the fridge. When he came back in the room, he picked his laptop up and took it with him.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt picked up Dave’s dishes and went into the kitchen to put them in the dishwasher. He walked back into the dining room and put his softly placed his hands on Dave’s shoulders. “Come on. I’m sure we have some time for snuggles before we get started on our school work.”

Dave smiled and then winced a bit.

Kurt went back into the kitchen and opened the freezer. He found a bag of frozen peas. He looked through the drawers until he found a towel. He took them back into the dining room. “Come on. Up with you. We’re going to go up and ice your eye for a while. We’ll eat the peas for lunch.”

Dave laughed, but winced again. “You can’t be funny while my ribs hurt.”

“I’ll do my best to be very, very serious.”

Dave laughed again. He pulled Kurt to him and leaned down to kiss him. “I’m pretty sure that half of what you say is sarcastic and most of it is funny. Don’t limit what you say on my account.”

As they walked upstairs, Kurt asked, “Did your dad give you ‘The Talk’ night before last? I was going to ask you when I got home from work last night, but things didn’t go the way any of us had planned.”

Dave went through the door and headed straight for his bed and lay back down. Kurt wrapped the towel around the bag of peas and put it on Dave’s eye gently. He lay down on the bed on his back next to Dave.

“Yeah, it was mortifying. It came from out of left field for me. I really wasn’t expecting it at all. He gave me some pamphlets to read and gave me a pep talk on waiting. How about you?”

“My dad suggested age 30 would be a good time to explore that part of humanity.”

Dave laughed.

“Sorry.”

“You’re naturally funny. Don’t be sorry.”

“I’m sorry that it hurts you to laugh.”

“I’ll heal up. No big deal. I get knocked around in hockey all the time”

“If you say so.” He scooted a little closer so that their arms were touching and he intertwined his fingers with Dave’s. “Did you want to be a pilot when you were younger?” Kurt asked looking up at the model planes hanging over Dave’s bed.

“A pilot?”

“The planes hanging from the rafter beam.”

“Oh. No, I didn’t want to be a pilot. Building and painting the models was something my dad and I used to do together.”

“That’s cool.”

They lay there for a while. Kurt sat up and removed the bag of frozen peas from Dave’s eye when his phone timer went off. “I hope that helps. We can ice it again later.”

“I feel guilty that you’re being so sweet and taking care of me when you told me that you always went home and never told anyone. No one ever took care of you when people were awful to you. That’s going to change you know. I can’t go back in time and not be a smart ass and insult your clothes, but I can be here for you from now on. I know you don’t really trust me yet, but I hope you will some day.”

“I want you to know that my lack of trust isn’t specific to just you. It’s pretty much the way I feel about everyone. Since I’ve never had any close friends, trust isn’t something I’ve experienced much of. I trust my dad, but that’s about it. Mercedes is my closest friend, but we just met this year. You’re right that it will take time, but I’m trying.”

“And I’ll do my best not to screw up.”

“Being trustworthy doesn’t require you to be perfect. No one’s perfect. But we’ve both had years of practice hiding things, even from the people we love. We’ll both have to work at being open and honest.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m trying too.”

“I know.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

By lunchtime, Kurt and Dave managed to get all of their schoolwork they were supposed to do the night before done. They went downstairs, still in their pajamas and made sandwiches.

“You aren’t going to try to play in the game tomorrow evening are you?”

“I am. The new plays Z came up with have me in them. If I don’t play, they won’t work.”

Kurt gave him the evil eye.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. I’ll try to get them to run some of Tanaka’s plays in between if I have to, even though Z says they’re wack.”

“I forgot to tell you that Puck came as close to apologizing as he probably ever has when he took me to practice kicking yesterday afternoon. He says you confronted him about his issues with me.”

“That’s true. I didn’t actually expect him to apologize or Puck-apologize or whatever. I just wanted him to back off the rest of the way.”

“Well, he’s not going to bother me anymore.”

“Good.”

“Maybe we could give him a few weeks to get over the humiliation for apologizing and then we could invite him to do something with some of the other guys maybe. I don’t know. When he said he doesn’t have a dad, I felt bad for him. Like, he never gets to go fishing or camping or anything like that.”

“We’ll have to think about it. Maybe like a football team camping trip and we invite all the guys and their dads and the ones who don’t have dads show up get assigned to a dad for the weekend ‘cause you know he’s not going to want to be singled out for pity or help. He’s too badass for that. But if the other guys got assigned to a dad too, it wouldn’t be like sticking out. Hudson’s dad’s dead. And I’m sure Chang’s dad would never show up to go camping. I think the dude sleeps in his three-piece suits.”

Kurt laughed. “That’s a good idea. Everyone gets assigned a dad, even if they have one at home. That way it’s not singling out anyone. I’m sure there are other guys whose dads are either not in their lives or won’t go camping.”

“We won’t invite Coach Tanaka either. We could work on new plays.”

“Sounds like a good plan. We just have to either find a place with cabins or find enough football team members that have tents.” Kurt started thinking about possibilities and zoned out.

Dave had finished his sandwich and peas and was eating some carrots and dip when Kurt refocused to grab some more vegetables and noticed that Dave was looking at him.

“What?”

“You’re just so beautiful. And I don’t mean that in a girly way. Really. It’s just still a little hard for me to believe that you agreed to give me a chance.”

Kurt leaned toward him and gave him a quick kiss. “This isn’t a trial. It’s not like if you pass a test you get to move up to actually being my boyfriend or something. You’re already my boyfriend.” He kissed him again, not just a quick kiss this time, but still chaste. When they broke apart, Kurt picked up all of their stuff and took it in the kitchen.

Dave got up and followed him. “I just thought about it for so long and never thought it would be possible. I had awful dreams of seeing you with some _Vogue_ -loving guy who you’d have everything in common with and I’d still be pining for you and beating myself up for never having the nerve to tell you and becoming the worst version of myself.”

“Well, I do like _Vogue_ , but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like you too.” He raised up on his toes and kissed him again. “And I like kissing you.”

Dave laughed. “I see how it is. You just want kisses.” He picked Kurt up and sat him on the counter and moved to stand between his knees. “There. Now, we can kiss easily.”

Kurt leaned forward and right before their lips touched, he said, “You have such good ideas.”

Dave closed the distance and was bold enough to lick at Kurt’s lower lip and Kurt responded by moaning lightly and letting Dave deepen the kiss.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Later that afternoon, they were lying in Dave’s bed on their backs.

“I’ve read ahead two chapters in all of the books I have with me. I wrote my history paper.”

“Me too.”

“I read the next two sections in my math book, I just don’t know which problems were assigned. I don’t think I have anything left I can do unless I just do all of the problems in those two sections just to cover all of the possibilities.”

“That sounds reasonable. I’ll do the same. That way, we can focus on the subjects we don’t the books for with us tomorrow after the game when we will not be going to any party and consuming alcohol,” Dave teased him a little.

“That wasn’t on purpose.”

“But your lack of knowledge was the best thing that ever happened to me. It gave me the chance to get you here and I got up the nerve to tell you how I felt.”

“You’re black and blue from how you feel.”

“Meh. The bruises will heal. They don’t hurt as much as never getting to spend time with you would have.”

“You are a real sap, you know that?”

“I’m cute and sweet.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “That may be so, but”

“But nothing. Just admit it.”

“You’re cute and sweet and crazy.”

“Hey, it takes one to know one.”

Kurt stuck his tongue out.

“Oh, real mature, Kurt. Sticking your tongue out at me.” He turned on his side. “I can think of good uses for that tongue.”

Kurt ignored his innuendo. “You have fudgesicles?”

Dave rolled onto his side and rolled Kurt toward him. “I’ll show you fudgesicles.” He kissed Kurt.

He was still being sassy and said, “I don’t see any fudgesicles.” But he pressed in to the kiss, despite being silly still. “Mmm. I like kissing. Maybe almost as much as I like fudgesicles.”

He tickled Kurt for that response. “Let’s go do all those math problems before our dads get back.”

“Now, who’s the taskmaster? You have a guy you think is sexy in your bed kissing you and you want to go downstairs and do math problems?” Kurt reached up and put the back of his hand against Dave’s forehead. “That explains things. You’re delirious. Burning up with a fever.”

“I have a fever for sure. Just like that song.”

“Oh, my God. Dave! But seriously, I bet you would sound so sexy singing that song. You know you’re going to have to sing for me again. Dad teased me when I told him that you were a crooner. He said you’d be able to charm me out of my clothes by singing to me.”

Dave laughed.

“Oh, my love for listening to crooners is no laughing matter, mister.” He kissed Dave again.

“Hmm. Something for future reference then. I’ll file that away.”

“You do that. And up with you, so we can go down and do math problems. I promise more kissing when we’re done. Let’s go.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

An hour later, the doorbell rang. Dave got up to answer the door. When he pulled it open, Azimio was standing there holding a big bag from Taco Bell.

“Oh, holy hell, what happened to you?”

“The puckheads. Bagged me, beat the crap out of me, and dumpster tossed me into the cafeteria dumpster after practice last night.”

“Nah. That’s not gonna be the way things are gonna go.” Azimio went into the dining room and put the sack down and slipped his backpack off and sat down. “I brought enough for all of us. When Kurt wasn’t at school either, I got both y’alls assignments.”

“Thanks,” Kurt said shocked. “That was really nice of you.”

“You’re welcome. And those were some fine brownies. You ought’a open up shop or somethin’. Nah, nevermind that. I’ll blow every penny I get there. You just make stuff for me. I’ll come up with something to offer in trade. I know. I’ll teach you how to kick D’s butt at _COD_.”

“Ha! Don’t fall for that. I beat him more times than he beats me. Plus, I’m teaching him how to play _Halo Reach_.”

“That’s a cool game. We can all play some afternoon when D don’t look like the walking dead. Dude, that is one mean black eye.”

“I know. Good news is that nothing’s broken or fractured and the bruises will heal.”

“Yeah, well, those puckheads got it comin’ now.”

“Nope. Leave ‘em. I’m working on something.”

“If you say so D, but they got a beat down comin’. Nobody be doin’ shit like that to my friends. Tossing slushies at people’s one thing, but beatin’ the crap outta someone, naw man.”

Azimio dumped the bag out. “The green stripes are chicken. The blue stripes are beef. I got a couple of spicy ones. Those are the red striped ones. Help yourself, unless you don’t like tacos.”

“I like tacos. I like pretty much everything.”

They all took one and started eating.

“So, how was Glee Club?”

“I sat with Mercedes and she was okay with that. Rachel sang a solo again. Schuester talked about Sectionals and how we need to learn some songs. He put some suggestions on the white board, but they all seemed kind of wack. We need to see what we can find online. Maybe someone posts old competitions like people post football games. That’s where I got my ideas for the plays I worked on. I watched some high school teams that win a lot and I watched their plays and copied them down. It seemed to work. I guess we’ll see tomorrow. You gonna play like that, D?”

“Yep. I’m not backing down. They can shove it.”

“That’s the spirit. You can take all that anger out on whoever we’re playin’ tomorrow night.” He looked at Kurt. “And you can kick that football and pretend you’re kickin’ those puckheads right in the nuts.”

Kurt laughed.

They sat and ate all of the tacos. Azimio looked Kurt up and down. “Damn, dude. Where you put all that food? You’re a scrawny ass.”

“I’m not done growing yet. High metabolism.”

“Yeah? I figured you for one of those ‘pick at your salad’ types.”

“I eat my fair share of salad, but I don’t pick at it. Heart problems run in my dad’s family, so I’m trying to avoid that, but I like to eat as much as much as anyone else our age. I just try to keep the junk food and empty calories like soda to a minimum.”

“Got it. So, when are you planning on playing Julia Child again? I wanna make sure and invite myself over that afternoon.”

Kurt laughed at him. “Well, my weekly schedule got interrupted by dumbasses attacking my boyfriend, so I’ll have to let you know after I dig myself out from under the pile of homework I’m sure I’ve got to do.”

“You’re like one of them Chihuahuas aren’t you? They look like nothin’ and then bite your fuckin’ finger off when you reach to pet them.”

“Something like that,” Kurt laughed. He grabbed up all of the trash and took it in the kitchen and tossed it.

“We’re still on for Monday, right? You’re not backin’ out on me because you got clocked are you?”

“Nope. We’re going out, black eye and all. I mean I did already buy a new outfit for the evening and everything.”

Azimio reached to mock punch him and pulled back. “Smart ass. At least Mercedes is talking to me.”

“You just need to be interesting, Azimio. She’ll talk to you. But football statistics and video games aren’t going to keep her interested for very long.”

“I need some inside information, dude. Help me out.”

“She would like you to be a gentleman. You know, open the door and let her walk through, but don’t get crazy and start doing things for her that she can do for herself, like ordering her food or whatever.”

“Got it. What else?”

“Well, she likes _Dream Girls, Sister Act 1 &2_, and _Miss Congeniality_. Oh, I know. I bet she’s never seen that football movie with Sandra Bullock in it. You could rent that and watch it some evening.”

“I can do that. I never seen it neither, but if it’s sort of about football, it can’t be half bad.”

“The one thing I know from sitting around a lot and listening to people talk is that girls complain that their boyfriends don’t listen to them when they talk. So, that’s where I’d start. It’s okay to say you know nothing about the subject, but you’re willing to listen and learn. You have to find some things to do that you both already like or that you’re willing to learn to like. Girls get talked over all the time. Their dads do it, their brothers do it, their boyfriends do it, even teachers do it. Just pay attention in school for a week, not to what’s being taught, but how teachers act differently when it’s a girl or guy that answers. The teachers give the guys a lot of leeway, especially the jocks. But they correct the girls or cut them off more quickly.”

“I’ll do that just because now you got me curious.”

“Listen to some female artists sing about being women or girls. Like ‘If I Were a Boy’. Listen to that and think about it. And ‘What it Feels Like for a Girl’ is good too.”

“A’ight. Type those in here so I can look for them later.” He handed Kurt his phone. “How do you know so much about girls?”

“Well, I never fit in with the guys or the girls really, but girls are less likely to bully a gay boy than guys are. So, I could just sit and mind my own business and they would talk around me like I wasn’t there.”

“I see. That sucks for you though.”

“A lot of things have.”

“Yeah. A lot of things suck about being a big, black teen in a mostly white town too.”

“I’m sure,” Kurt agreed. “Stereotyping sucks in general.”

“Well, my momma said she’d be back for me about now. She dropped me off while she went to the grocery store. I’ll see you dudes tomorrow. Ice that eye, man.”

“I have. I’ll do it again.”

A car horn honked outside. “That’d be for me.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“I think he and I are going to be just fine,” Kurt said as he leaned over to kiss Dave. He grabbed his assignment list and took a look at it. “At least I won’t do anymore problems that weren’t assigned.” He pulled his notebook toward him and went back to solving algebra problems.

Dave checked his list and got started again as well.

Two hours later, they had finished everything up and were getting ready to head upstairs when they heard the front door open. Paul came in carrying his briefcase and some grocery bags, which he carried into the kitchen.

“That’s a hell of a shiner.”

“Thanks, Dad. It’s nice to see you too,” he smarted back.

“Yeah, yeah. I see you took the idea of relaxing to heart. Neither of you got dressed.”

“Well, technically I don’t have any clean clothes here,” Kurt teased.

“I see.”

“And I couldn’t make him feel underdressed by putting clothes on. You always said to make our guests feel comfortable.”

Paul rolled his eyes. “You two are full of it.” He kept putting stuff from the bags away. “How did you get Taco Bell if you never got dressed?”

“Z came by with our assignments and tacos.”

“Good. Then you won’t be doing homework this weekend when we go camping.”

“Hopefully not,” Kurt replied.

“I could use some help cooking, if you wouldn’t mind, Kurt. I’m going to need to hire you to teach one or both of us how to cook. Warming up the precooked sausages and scrambling eggs this morning was pretty much the extent of my cooking skills.”

Kurt laughed. “You come close to rivaling my dad’s skills then.”

“Maybe I should just get you to teach Dave,” he teased. “Then I won’t have to learn.”

“Sometimes I think my dad messes up on purpose, so he won’t have to learn and he can claim that I am just naturally better at it than he is. What do you need help with?”

“Well, spaghetti sounded easy enough, so I bought what I thought we’d need. We’ll just start with jarred sauce. If I ever make it past novice level, you can show me how to make the sauce myself.”

Kurt put his books upstairs and came back down. He spent the next half-hour carefully showing Paul and David how to make spaghetti. The doorbell rang just when they were getting ready to serve it. Paul let Burt in.

“You’re just in time to not have to help cook.”

“Perfect timing then.”

Kurt plated more spaghetti and took it out to the table. They all sat down and ate together. They talked about the camping trip and made plans. After they ate, Dave and Kurt did the dishes. Paul and Burt went into the living room and talked, but just low enough that the teens couldn’t hear what they were saying.

After they finished, Dave said, “Close your eyes.” He opened the freezer and pulled out two of the long thin type of fudgesicles and shut the door back. He took the wrapper off both of them. “Open your eyes.” He held out one of the fudgesicles to Kurt.

Kurt laughed. “Cute. Very cute.”

“I thought so. I texted Dad asking him for some earlier when you weren’t looking.”

Kurt put his in his mouth and sucked on it. He licked it and put it back in his mouth several times. He saw Dave unable to take his eyes off him and he decided to ramp it up a notch and put the whole thing in his mouth. Dave about choked.

“You did not just do that.”

Kurt did it again.

“You cannot do that.”

“Do what?”

“Oh, God. You even make eating popsicles ridiculously sexy.”

Kurt laughed and went back to licking his fudgesicle. “Maybe your mind is just…” he stopped and leaned over and licked Dave’s fudgesicle.

“You’re killing me.”

“You’re young and healthy. I think you’ll live.” He licked Dave’s fudgesicle again and then kissed him before going back to eating his own. He smiled and winked at Dave as he finished his off and tossed the stick into the trashcan. “What do you want to do now?”

“I think I need a cold shower.”

“I figured that fudgesicle would have cooled you down.” He winked and wiggled his tush on his way out of the kitchen, and then ran up the stairs.

“That’s cheating,” Dave said as he came out of the kitchen making his way up the stairs after Kurt.

“Not cheating,” Kurt said as he shut the door behind Dave as he stepped into the room. “I was encouraging you to get up here more quickly.”

“Well, it worked. Stay right there.” Dave went back downstairs and came back up a few minutes later.

“What on earth?” Kurt asked.

“You’ll see. Be patient.” He opened his closet and pulled a really worn out pair of sweatpants with holes in the knees out of the box. He grabbed a pair of scissors and cut one of the legs off. He managed to get what he had brought up with him inside the pant leg and he left the ends loose. He moved his creation in front the side table on his side of the bed, which was closest to the window. “There. No one will trip on it there and no one is likely to even notice it.”

“What is it?”

“Come over here and I’ll show you.”

Kurt walked to where he was standing.

“Step up and face me.”

Kurt laughed. “I see. It’s kissing stone. Where did you get a half-height concrete block so quickly?”

“It’s left over from the retaining wall we built around the patio. The half-height ones went on the top to make it look nice. We had a few left over and dad never bothered to return them to Lowe’s.”

“Now I don’t have to tiptoe and you don’t have to lean over.”

Dave stepped closer and put his hands on Kurt’s waist. “You can put your arms around my neck. It’s not that sore.”

Kurt reached up and gently put his hands on Dave’s shoulders.

Dave closed the distance between them and kissed him. “Perfect.”

Kurt blushed.

“You are such a tease. Tormenting me with a fudgesicle with our dads in the living room.”

“You’re not mad are you? I was just playing around.”

“I’m not mad, not at all. I’m just not used to it.”

Kurt bit his lower lip, and the let it slip free. “Me either, but if it’s too much, just tell me.”

Dave moved his hands and wrapped them around Kurt. “Is this okay?”

Kurt turned his head and nuzzled into Dave’s neck. “Yeah, as long as I’m not hurting you.”

“Mmm. Even if it did hurt a little, I doubt I’d notice.”

After a few minutes of holding each other, Kurt said, “How about you work on my _Halo Reach_ skills? Now that you told Azimio you were teaching me, he’s going to ask us to play soon and I don’t want to totally suck at it.”

He kissed Kurt. “You’re so fucking adorable. You want to kick his ass at it don’t you?”

“Pretty much.”

“Right this way.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“That was quick,” Paul said. “Are they asleep again?”

“No. Dave is teaching Kurt how to play some video game. All these years of wishing he’d get along better with the guys and that he’d make a real friend, all it took was for him to LIKE a boy and suddenly he’s all into ‘shooting imaginary things on a screen’.”

Paul laughed. “Come on now. You can’t tell me that you never listened to some music you heard some girl that you liked talk about. Or that you never stopped yourself from just throwing on the first shirt your hand touched because suddenly you wanted to look nicer so some girl would notice you.”

“Fine, I did. It’s just so weird to see him suddenly doing something so typically teenager-ish. He’s been like a tiny adult his whole life. Now, he’s laughing and teasing someone. You heard them earlier. Kurt did something and then ran up the stairs teasing Dave. And then Dave came out of the kitchen chasing Kurt and calling him a ‘cheater’. I’ve just never see him interacting like this. It’s great, but it’s scary too. Not that many people stay with the first person they date and for him to get so wrapped up in spending time with Dave makes me nervous. Break ups are terrible a lot of times and … I know I shouldn’t worry about it. Worry seems to be my constant mode though. Probably why I have high blood pressure. It’s getting late. I need to go get him and make him come home with me, but part of me just says to leave him here and let him have fun.”

“Dave’s been so sullen for so long that it’s the same for me, you know. I mean, yeah, he still had some friends like Azimio that came around, but he was on edge all the time. Now, of course, I know why now, but seeing him relaxed makes me want to do the same thing. But if they don’t go to school tomorrow, they can’t play in the game tomorrow night.”

“I’m just going to leave him here anyway. He can stop at home on the way to school and get clothes to wear. I’m not going to go up there and tell him to stop doing something I’ve wished he’d do for ages.”

“You’re a softie, Burt. I’ll go up there and tell them to turn it off if you want. I’m used to it.”

“Nah, just leave them be. I’ll go home and get our camping stuff ready so Kurt can load it in his Navigator when he gets home from the game tomorrow night.”

“Alright then. I’ll see you at the game tomorrow night.”

“Yeah.”

Paul shut the door behind him, shaking his head and laughing quietly.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The clock was counting down the final few seconds on a game that had been won for at least 15 minutes. The Titans fans watched the clock hit 0:00 and then began to scream. They had won, 28-12. Burt and Paul were on their feet cheering. Dave and Kurt made their way off the field quickly and into the locker room and showered as fast as they could and headed off to their isolated lockers and got dressed. They headed back out in search of their fathers.

“That’s some big improvement since last week,” Paul said.

“Yeah, Z stepped in and taught new plays this week,” Dave said.

“That was some might fine kicking there too, kiddo – 4 for 4 field goals.”

“Thanks!”

“We’re going to go out for dinner. We’re going to try that new Greek place that opened. Let’s get going.”

“Over by the Post Office?”

“That’s it.”

“Alright, we’ll meet you there.”

Kurt noticed both of them watching to see that Kurt and Dave were actually in the Navigator before they got into Burt’s truck.

“You were awesome,” Dave said as soon as he was in his seat.

“You did great too. I was watching you.”

Dave smiled. “You were, were you?”

“You look good in tight pants. What can I say?”

Dave laughed.

Kurt drove down the street a ways and then pulled over into a dark, empty parking lot. He made sure the doors were locked and he drove to the back of the lot. He slipped his seat belt off and leaned over the console. Dave turned to try to figure out what was going on and he was met with Kurt’s lips on his.

“I just wanted to kiss you before we drove any farther.”

Dave put his hands on the sides of Kurt’s face, very gently holding him in place and kissed him passionately. “Good idea.”

Kurt pulled back when they broke for air. “I thought you might think so.” He put his seatbelt back on and drove back out of the parking lot and headed to the restaurant.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

By 9:00 Saturday morning, they had their campsite set up and were ready to launch. They spent the morning out on the lake. They all caught some decent fish. When they got back to shore, Burt and Paul cleaned the fish, while Kurt and Dave got the grill set up and ready to go. They grilled turkey sausages, the fish, and some vegetable kabobs. Kurt had made some rice the afternoon before and brought it with them. He heated it up in a pot on the side burner of the grill. They divided everything out and sat around in their camping chairs and ate.

“This is my favorite time of year to go camping,” Kurt said. “I love when all the trees start to change color. There’s just a splatter of yellow here and a bit of red there. It just looks really cool.”

Burt said, “I like it this time of year because the weather is great. Warm in the daytime, but not too hot or cold to sleep at night.”

“That too,” Kurt said.

“I’ve decided that vegetables taste better grilled. I think maybe we should get one of those indoor grills and give it a try. I never liked mushy vegetables, but they’re really not bad like this.”

“If you buy one, I’ll cook your vegetables on it. Who knows, maybe it will be easy enough for you to do YOURSELF,” Kurt teased.

Dave and Paul laughed.

“Nah. I’m sure it’s far beyond my culinary skill level.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “Sure, Dad because grilling vegetables is SO much harder than grilling hamburgers.”

“See, I knew you’d see it my way,” Burt teased.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt and Dave settled into Dave’s smaller tent. Kurt brought his air mattress and set it up. It took up the entire tent, but he didn’t like sleeping directly on the ground and Dave needed the padding with all of his bruises.

“I think this hurts less than my bed did.”

“I hope they all heal quickly. I’m sure playing in the game last night did not help at all.”

“It helped us win. I want to do something positive for once. I want to be one of the good guys for a change. And you’re an amazing kicker.” He scooted forward and kissed Kurt. “I’m glad we went hiking because it was fun, but I’m sore. I’m out of shape. I need you to show me how to do that yoga stuff like you said.”

“Sure. We can start next week some time. I’m really sleepy. Do you want me to turn over so you can snuggle me or do you want to stay like that where nothing is bumping up against you?”

“Bruises or no bruises, I would never be dumb enough to turn down the offer of snuggling you.”

“You’re a sappy sap.” He leaned forward and kissed Dave, and then turned over to sleep.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday in Glee, Mr. Schue issued a challenge of the boys versus the girls. The girls went off to dance studio to work while the guys came up with their own ideas. Finn kept practically falling asleep and the guys made him go to the nurse. He returned a little later full of energy.

Monday’s double date with Mercedes and Azimio went well. The only trouble came when the waitress brought their checks and Azimio tried to pay for Mercedes dinner. Azimio learned quickly that being a sassy diva also meant stubborn as a mule and he let her pay for her own dinner before she got to the point of actually getting angry. They decided on a second double date Friday evening after the football game.

During football practice Tuesday, Coach Tanaka pulled Kurt to the side and asked him about whether he would really give him fashion advice. Kurt reluctantly agreed. So, instead of practicing kicking during Tuesday’s practice, Kurt used his phone to show him some suitable clothing styles for his body type. He also recommended a list of body products and cleansers. Coach Tanaka wrote down websites, brand names, and names of products while Kurt talked.

Wednesday at lunch the boys performed their mash-up and were wildly energetic. Thursday afternoon, the girls performed hyped up sunny mash-up in coordinating yellow dresses. But after it came to light that both groups performed under the influence of over-the-counter stimulant decongestants provided to them by Mrs. Schuester, both groups were disqualified. She was summarily fired.

She had approached Quinn trying to convince her to let her adopt the baby, but after her behavior, Quinn decided that even though she thought Mr. Schuester would make a good father, she didn’t consider Mrs. Schuester the type of person she wanted to be the mother of her child. She decided that it was time to make some serious decisions and consider an adoption agency where she could get the adoptive parents to cover her medical bills because she knew that her parents might kick her out. She knew that lying to Finn was wrong, but she didn’t want to deal with Puck. She needed to get everything figured out on her own terms before more people got involved.

Friday night’s football game was a closer victory than the week before, but the Titans pulled out another win. After the game, Kurt and Dave were the first ones out and took their waiting dates out to dinner. They opted for a casual dinner since Kurt and Dave were tired and didn’t have time to spruce up, or even dry their hair. They decided on Steak ‘n Shake for the casual atmosphere. They sat the way they had Monday evening, with Kurt next to Mercedes and Dave across from Kurt. Kurt had chosen the seating arrangement because he could play footsie under the table with Dave and with their table up against a wall and no one could see. Plus, he figured they wouldn’t attract any unwanted attention if Dave and Azimio sat side by side, rather than him sitting next to Dave.

Kurt dropped Mercedes and Azimio off at their houses afterwards and went back to Dave’s and stayed over.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Saturday morning, they headed to the Hummel’s to refinish the futon frame to match Kurt’s room. They took it outside, sanded it and restained it pale gray. While it was drying, Dave and Kurt went shopping in Columbus for a new futon cover and to pick up the sectional couch. Even though Kurt had loved the white, he opted for a chambray cover in a medium gray. When they got back, the frame was dry enough to take it down in the basement, but not ready to have the mattress put back on.

Paul arrived not long after they moved the frame downstairs and the four of them spent the afternoon assembling the sectional. Kurt took a break from helping and made dinner for everyone. Once they had eaten and cleaned up, they went back to work on the sectional and finally they had it put together around 9:00. Burt and Paul sat down to watch a football game they had missed the evening before. Kurt and Dave left and went back to the Karofsky’s to sleep.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sunday morning Kurt got up, dressed, and went back home to have the talk he had been dreading having with Burt.

He walked in he door and found Burt sitting on their new sofa waiting for him.

“Have you eaten?”

“Not yet.”

“I’ll make us something. I brought the paper in and put it on the foyer table.” Kurt took his stuff down to his room. He opened the windows to get some fresh air in and clear out some of the residual smell from the furniture stain. He went back upstairs and made each of them a veggie omelette and a glass of orange juice and took it all in the dining room, where Burt was reading the sports section. Kurt put everything down and went back for their drinks.

“Thanks, Kurt. I really do appreciate that you cook for me. I should have tried harder to learn, but you wanted to do it. I should have learned to do it with you.”

“You can still learn. When I go to college, you’ll need to be able to feed yourself.”

“Yeah. So, I went back to the doctor and the medicine is working. He didn’t have to adjust my dose or anything. And I also spent a lot of time thinking after I got up early this morning. Whatever you tell me now, there’s nothing I can do to change it. So, getting angry solves nothing. I’m going to do my best to listen without yelling. If you’re concerned at any point, I can use my newfangled automatic blood pressure cuff the doctor made me get.”

Kurt smiled. “Alright.” Kurt started from back as far as his memory could reliably take him and told him the truth about how school had been for him. By the time he was finished, Burt was crying.

He wiped his eyes, “So you’ve come home in a similar condition to Dave’s and taken care of yourself and never let anyone know?”

“I’ve never been beaten up that badly, as in punched in the face like that. Since I’m pretty small for my age, I think most of the jocks were too afraid they’d do something permanent and there would be no escaping the consequences if I actually ended up needing real medical care, but I came home covered in bruises for most of last school year from the daily locker shoves. Mostly on my shoulders and upper arms, but sometimes my hip if I was standing a little angled or I was holding books in my arms.”

“And the school did and does nothing about these things?”

“Nope. Figgins is useless. He says that slushies aren’t on the school board’s actionable list of projectile weapons.”

“Well, that’s going to change. I’m going to the next school board meeting.”

“Okay. Just don’t get yourself so worked up that you hurt yourself. I would honestly rather be slushied and shoved into lockers than to move to Arkansas and live with Aunt Mildred and Uncle Andy.”

“I get it. I know. I don’t want you to end up there either. I’m taking this heart thing seriously. I’m going to eat right and go on a 30-minute walk every day. Every time I look at a Slim Jim and a Coke, I’m going to picture you living with them. I will change. I’ve just been pigheaded. I’m sorry about that. Even dads make bad choices.”

“I just want you to be okay.”

“Are the jocks still throwing slushies at people?”

“The puckheads are.”

“I need photos.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“How are things with you and Dave?”

“Good. We have a lot of fun together. We’ve gone on two double dates with Mercedes and Azimio. They seem to be getting along okay. She wants to keep it casual until he’s had more time to prove himself, which is fair. He and Dave seem to be enjoying Glee Club.”

“That’s good.”

“And the football team regime change has held for two weeks so far. Coach Tanaka doesn’t even need to be there because he’s no help whatsoever.”

“Whatever the team is doing is working. I don’t think they’ve won three games in the same season in years.”

“I have a question for you. Dave and I were talking and there are several guys on the team who don’t have dads or whose dads don’t spend any time with them. We were thinking maybe we could have a football team campout maybe next weekend and you and Paul and any of the other dads can come. There’s a lot of guys who just don’t have any idea how to be decent people because they’ve had no examples. I won’t name names, but one of them came to me and apologized and told me that he had picked on me because he was jealous of me. I had nice clothes, a nice house, and a dad that cared. He saw us around town doing things, just normal stuff like grocery shopping and whatever, but his mom isn’t a nice person and his dad is just gone. I don’t know the story. But I thought about it. Finn doesn’t have a dad. Mike’s dad is very stuffy and doesn’t do the father/son thing from what I’ve heard. I think maybe a lot of the bullying comes from a need to feel like they’re important and they want respect, but instead they get fear. But it’s still attention.”

“I’ll talk to Paul. We’d need at least a couple more dads. We can’t take 20 whatever teen guys out just the two of us.”

“Maybe not this weekend then. Maybe the weekend after so we have more time to get it set up.”

“We need a cabin or something. I’ll see what I can find out.”

“Thanks.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday, the puckheads slushied Quinn and Finn, telling them that they were headed to the bottom of the bottom feeders if they stayed in Glee Club. Fortunately, a few Glee Club members were nearby and caught all of the slushie throwers in photos.

Kurt, Dave, Mercedes, and Azimio went out to the movies after Glee on Monday.

Coach Sue got Figgins to name her as co-leader of he Glee Club. She divided the group and took he minority kids with her and called them “Sue’s Kids”. The members didn’t like being split apart and managed to meet up and sing together without getting caught.

Coach Tanaka showed up to school wearing new clothes and had a new hair cut and seemed to really be putting an effort into being more presentable. Practice on Tuesday and Wednesday still consisted of Azimio and Puck running the show. Puck obviously put some effort into finding strength training information and was using it to whip the team into shape. Azimio continued with bringing new plays and teaching them to the team.

Burt found out that the next school board meeting was scheduled for the next Thursday evening. He found as many of the dads as he could at the football game and he managed to persuade enough of them to participate to have the camping trip that Kurt wanted to have. One of them had property with an empty horse barn with running water and working bathrooms on a well and a septic system and a small lake that agreed to let the team camp there.

He arranged a breakfast meeting on Sunday morning for the dads that were willing to go. Dave and Kurt went to the meeting and Kurt explained to the other fathers why he thought having some events like this could really change some of the guys’ lives on the team.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next week, Sue kicked Quinn off the Cheerios because she was pregnant. Sue was in a particularly foul mood all week.

Coach Tanaka didn’t show up for practice Tuesday or Wednesday. The team didn’t really know what to do about it, but they went ahead with their practice the way they had been for the previous couple of weeks.

Puck got up the nerve to sing a solo Thursday, which surprised everyone in a good way. No one had been able to find a song to mash up with “Bust a Move” for Mr. Schue’s assignment.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Thursday evening, Paul and Burt went to the school board meeting. Initially, when they spoke, what they said was mostly ignored by the members. They were given “boys will be boys” kinds of responses and were reminded that slushie sales benefitted the athletic programs at the school.

Burt went to the podium to speak again. “So, let me get this straight, since the sales of the slushies benefit the sports teams, it doesn’t affect the school’s actual maintenance budget when the janitor has to spend so much time cleaning the mess they make up every day? When I look through this budget sheet, it shows that the school had to hire another part-time janitor to keep the building clean and the budget shows $500 a month being allotted for the extra staffing. You’re telling me that the school is making more than $500 in PROFITS from the slushie machines when they can’t be bringing in more than 50 cents each in profit. The school is selling a thousand slushies a month? What about the cost of the books that are ruined by the slushies? Where are those expenses?”

“The school isn’t responsible for the cost of replacing the books.”

“What do you mean?”

“If a textbook is destroyed while it is in a student’s possession, the student has to pay to replace the textbook, not the school.”

“So, you’re telling me that you’re CHARGING the kids that are being bullied to replace the textbooks that the bullies are destroying?”

No one said anything.

“Answer me.”

“The school board chairman finally spoke. “I suppose that the answer is yes. The student to whom the textbook was rented is responsible for keeping that textbook in good shape while it is in his or her possession.”

“So, the school is spending an extra $5000 on a part-time custodian and charging the students who are being bullied to replace their books – all so that the football and hockey team can get revenue for their budgets? Are you aware that it is the hockey and football players that have been purchasing and throwing the majority of the slushies that the janitor is cleaning up? This is absurd. I want the slushie machines removed from the building by Monday morning. Divert the budget for the extra custodial work to the sports’ budget, if need be. This ends now.”

“The slushie machines are under contract.”

“So the school is LEASING them? So, you’re not even getting 50% of the purchase price? This is even more ridiculous than I thought. The school is actually paying money to provide the bullies with ways to damage school property.”

“I suppose that’s one way to look at it. Other schools had determined them to be an effective way to create revenue for sports teams. The data from the schools that had used them for a source of revenue was solid.”

“Maybe those schools were smart enough to make throwing them at people a punishable act within their school’s code of conduct.”

“Perhaps. I don’t think information like that was part of the cost analysis.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t. But now that you are aware, I expect something to change. Either remove the machines and face the breech of contract fines or change the rules to include throwing slushies as suspension-worthy behavior.”

“You want the school to suspend students who throw slushies?” one of the board members asked.

“I want the slushies to not be thrown. Whatever will accomplish that is fine with me. I also want the dumpsters removed from the student parking lot and I want a fence put up around the dumpsters behind the school and locks placed on the fences.”

“We don’t have the budget for that.”

“I’ll raise the money for the fences myself, if I have to. And I’m going to tell you that when I go public with WHY it needs done, the school is going to have a lot more angry parents attending these meetings.”

“Are you threatening the school board?”

“No, sir. I’m threatening to tell the tax payers in this district what those unlocked dumpsters are being used for and how the students perpetrating the crimes are not being punished.”

“What are you talking about, Mr. Hummel?”

“The bullies at the high school are using the dumpsters as way to make sure that the ‘losers’ at the school know that they’re losers. The jocks are dumpster tossing people.”

“What does that mean – dumpster tossing?” Mrs. Sturbaum, one of the women on the school board asked.

“It means just like what it sounds like. Two or more jocks grab one of the ‘losers’ and tosses him into the dumpster.”

“What?”

“I’m pretty sure you heard me. The jocks grab a ‘loser’ and toss him into a dumpster. Dumpster tossing.”

“Surely someone is pulling your leg about this,” she said.

Paul stood and spoke, even though he was not at the podium. “It’s no joke. My son was in the ER just recently. Five jocks grabbed him and tossed him over the edge and into one of the large dumpsters behind the school.”

“Why has this not been brought to our attention before now if it’s such a big problem?”

“Because the students that are on the receiving end of the dumpster tosses are too afraid to turn the perpetrators in. Principal Figgins doesn’t do anything about any of the bullying at the school.”

“What do you have to say to that claim, Mr. Figgins?”

Principal Figgins stood. “We do not have a bullying problem at William McKinley High School. I take each complaint seriously and ask for the students involved to provide some evidence of what they are complaining about and each time I have done that, the person being accused has multiple witnesses that he did not commit the act that he has been accused of. With multiple witnesses on the part of the accused and no witnesses on the part of the accuser, the case is dismissed. I cannot punish students without evidence.”

Burt shook his head. “You are dumber than rocks. Of COURSE the accused has witnesses. The bullies band together. They ALL back each others’ stories. The accuser has no one to back up what he says because even when there ARE witnesses, no one is willing to speak up against someone when by doing so, they make themselves the next target. Have some sense.”

“No evidence equals no ability to punish. Otherwise, anyone could accuse anyone of anything and people would be punished unjustly.”

“Students are being bullied in your school EVERY SINGLE DAY. That is unjust.”

The school board chairman spoke again. “We will be investigating this issue. Effective immediately, throwing slushies will be added to the list of punishable offenses. We will attempt to solve the issue this way. If the behavior persists, we will consider other options. The new policy will be decided after the public speaking portion of this meeting has ended. The new policy will go in effect Monday morning. It will be announced over the PA system informing the entire school of the consequences. As for the dumpster issue, I would like more information on this issue.”

“That should be easy enough. Require some of the teachers to tell you what they know. If you have to, allow them to submit the information in writing anonymously. I know for certain that teachers have seen it happen and have done nothing about it.”

Mrs. Sturbaum spoke again. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that the teachers see it happening or know for certain that it is happening and they do not report it to the administration and they don’t stop it or do anything to the bullies who are doing it.”

“You can’t be serious?” she asked.

“Ma’am, pardon my potential rudeness, but do you EVEN know any high school students? How long have you been on the school board? Your constant disbelief that teenagers are behaving this way makes me wonder if you know any teenage boys or if you ever did.”

“Mr. Hummel…” the chairman said.

“I’m being serious. You all act like this is something so unusual that teenage boys would behave is such disgraceful ways that I just have to wonder if you know any teenage boys. Now, granted they’re not ALL like that. But the ones who are – they’re getting away with it. They’re facing no consequences to their actions. They are assaulting people on a daily basis and absolutely nothing is being done about it. I can guarantee that if I walk out of here and go buy a slushie at the nearest convenience store and bring it back and I throw it at one of you and ruin your outfit, destroy any paperwork you have in front of you, and ruin your phone or laptop that you will not just say, ‘Oh, no big deal.’ You’d call the cops. You’d expect justice. You’d expect me to pay for every cent of damage that I did. If one of them came in here and did to you what happens to kids at school every day, they’d be sitting in juvie and you’d expect their parents to pay for the damages. Would you just look the other way if you were dumpster tossed when you leave tonight?”

“Of course not,” she said. “I just can’t believe that such terrible things are being allowed to happen in our high school. It’s awful. And of course, I would expect you to pay for the damages to my personal property. The fact that these students are being allowed to do this is ridiculous. I move that we put this investigation at the top of our priorities.”

“I’d suggest that one of you go sit in the student lot before school for a few days. Park far enough away from the dumpsters that none of the students notice you. Try sitting in your backseat where you can’t be seen as easily. Watch the dumpsters. Or call a special meeting Saturday morning and require all of the teachers to attend and make them fill out a questionnaire about the bullying that goes on at the school. Let them fill it out without putting their names on them because the teachers are afraid as well. They don’t confront the bullies because they don’t want their tires flattened or their residences vandalized.”

She said, “This is insane.”

“Try living it. My lawn furniture was nailed to my roof last year by one of the sports teams. Do you know how much it costs for a new roof? Paying for a new roof is insane.”

She just sat and shook her head. “I volunteer to head a group to look into these issues. This must stop.”

The chairman said, “Anyone else who wants to work with Margaret Anne can meet with her after the main meeting. I want to thank Mr. Hummel for bringing these issues to our attention.”

Burt sat back down and sat through the rest of the administrative parts of the meeting. He and Paul waited until they were finished and they approached Mrs. Sturbaum.

“While you were finishing up the meeting, I had the faces blurred in some images to show you. I’m not ready to identify the perpetrators or the victims without the victims’ approval, but you can still see what’s happening with their faces blurred.”

She sat down next to him and he showed her the photos of Dave being beaten up, Dave being dumpster tossed, and a few images of students being slushied in the halls of the school.

“I just can’t believe that the school administration has allowed this to go on,” she said. “It wasn’t that I thought you were lying, Mr. Hummel. I just can’t believe that some of our students are being subjected to this on a daily basis. This will not continue.”

“I appreciate your interest in this matter,” Burt said.

“I’m imagining that your son has been on the receiving end as well,” she said.

“He kept it from me until just recently, but yes. All last school year.”

“Why did he keep it from you?”

“As I said, the students who ratted out the bullies got bullied even worse. But also, he was trying to protect me. He mostly gets bullied because he’s gay and even though he’d never told anyone, the other students assumed because of his interests in musicals and fashion and stuff. He didn’t want me to stick up for him and then have my business targeted or end up getting hassled even more because I went to the principal about it.”

“And so, why now?”

“Because I know now. And because this is wrong. School is supposed to be a place to learn. School isn’t supposed to be a place where students and teachers are afraid of a group of the students. I figured that by starting at the top rather than with the obviously incompetent principal that something might actually change.”

“Those pictures are all the proof I need. I don’t have to know anything else. Just from looking at them, the perpetrators are much larger than the victims. And the perpetrators are wearing letterman jackets. The students being slushied are just standing there. They aren’t running. They’re not trying to move. This has happened to them enough times that they are resigned to the fact that it is going to happen and they might as well just get it over with and go on with their lives. And you’re right. It’s been far, far too long since I’ve spent any time with teenagers. I was a teacher back in the early 60s. I retired about 20 years ago, when I was in my mid-50s. I don’t have any children or grandchildren. I just can’t imagine the students facing this each day.”

“I have a suggestion. Why don’t you go visit the Home Ec teacher at the school? Offer to help her one day by teaching the kids to make some family recipe of some sort. Hang around outside her classroom door between classes and watch what goes on. But if you want to see the slushies happening, you’ll need to go up there tomorrow somehow since they’re supposedly going to be issuing detention or whatever starting on Monday.”

“I’ll go up there tomorrow. I’ll find a way to get someone to give me a pass.”

“Go talk to Miss Pillsbury,” Burt suggested. “She’s the guidance counselor. She’s a decent enough lady. Very mild mannered and kind of timid, but seems to care.”

“Thank you for the ideas.”

“Thanks for caring enough to look into it.”


	5. Chapter 5

Friday morning, Mrs. Sturbaum paid Miss Pillsbury a visit. She was escorted to Miss Perlman’s English classroom for the morning. She sat in the back of the classroom and observed. She spent the passing period right outside the classroom door. She witnessed her very first slushie facial delivered by Rick the Stick to Rachel as she came out of her second period English class. He kept on walking and she headed into the girls’ restroom. She came out wearing a different shirt than she had gone in wearing, letting Mrs. Sturbaum see just how often this happened to Rachel.

Friday’s football game marked their fifth win in a row. There were a few scouts in the audience that approached a couple of the seniors. The season was three-quarters over, but they were 5-2, which was the best season the team had managed in ages.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Drive down farther and you see an area covered with straw. Park there. Set up your tents the mowed area between the barn and the really large mowed area,” Kurt said for the third time in 15 minutes. “Once your tents are up and your stuff is stowed inside, head over to the smaller mowed section where the dads are sitting. If you didn’t bring a dad, you’ll be assigned to one for the weekend.”

Kurt went through the spiel three more time before everyone was finally there. He hopped in the Navigator and drove down to the parking area. Dave was waiting for him and hopped in before Kurt got out. Kurt pulled his door back shut.

“What’s up? They’re not hassling you are they?”

“Nope. I just wanted to kiss you.”

Kurt laughed. He leaned toward Dave, who met him halfway and they kissed.

“Come on. We have stuff to do. This was all our idea after all.”

They headed to the “dad area”. Kurt had made sure that Puck got assigned to Paul. Azimio’s dad couldn’t make it, so he assigned him to Burt. The other players got randomly assigned. Most of the dads had three teens. Kurt left Burt and Paul with just two because they were the “head dads” and he honestly thought Paul would be a good match for Puck since he was so calm and Puck had never bullied Dave like he had Kurt.

Each of the “dads” gave their cell phone number to the players assigned to them. That allowed them to find each other more easily over the weekend, but the idea was to also be able to contact the “dad” after the weekend was over, if anyone wanted to.

Saturday was spent playing scrimmage matches, soccer, Frisbee, fishing, and doing a lot of grilling. All the guys got time to spend with a dad who taught them how to fish, how to clean the fish, and how to cook them. They brought a couple of portable fire pits and roasted marshmallows for s’mores on Saturday night. It was a little chilly sleeping that night, but they all managed to stay warm enough.

Dave and Kurt camped in Dave’s tent with Kurt’s air mattress again. They spent a few minutes kissing when they first lay down.

“I think this was a really good idea, don’t you?” Kurt asked in a whisper.

“I do. I think everyone’s having a good time. A lot of the guys have never been camping and this is a great spot. That lake is perfect and having the bathrooms and running water makes it less daunting for them. I think we should do it again. Maybe in the spring and then before school starts in the fall? Keep everyone working together and feeling like they’re a part of something.”

Kurt kissed him. “I agree. Most of them seem to have gotten over the fact that we’re dating.”

“It seems like it. I hope so anyway.” He wrapped his hand behind Kurt’s neck and played with the hair at the base of his neck and kissed him. “I’m not giving you up even if they hassle me, but I would rather they didn’t, of course. And I especially don’t want them to do anything to you.”

“As evidenced by you and Azimio being my shadows all the time. I can feel the two of you watching me.”

Dave kissed him. “My dad is still working on his plan, but I’m not letting them get to you. We can’t prevent the slushies, obviously. They’re still targeting both of us. Three of them got Z the other day. It took a lot of talking to keep him from retaliating.” Dave shivered a bit and pulled his hand down under the sleeping bag and blanket they had put inside. He ran his hand on Kurt’s arm until he reached his hand. He took it and pulled it up between them.

Kurt scooted forward enough to kiss Dave again. “I’m really glad he is okay with this. If he hadn’t been, I don’t know how you could have stayed at McKinley. He’s managed to rally the football team into winning group. With that kind of charisma and leadership, he’s a powerful force to deal with.”

“That’s why I wanted to tell him when our dads were there because if it had gone badly I knew just how bad it could be.”

“Puck’s changed a lot in the last couple of months too. That’s helped. Something’s different about him. But I’m definitely not complaining. I like not ending up in the dumpster.”

“I still feel terrible about that.”

“I know you do. I’m going to turn over so we can snuggle and get some sleep. Who knows if some of these guys are early birds and will get us up at the crack of dawn.”

“One more kiss.”

Kurt smiled. “One more kiss.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sunday morning, some of the guys got up pretty early, but since it was the middle of October, getting up with the sun, didn’t make it all that early. The second string freshmen and Kurt worked to prep breakfast for everyone while the others learned new plays and the defensive line worked on some issues.

Once the food was ready, Kurt made two plates, and then called everyone to get in line. He turned the overseeing of the food over to some of the dads. He got Dave’s attention and the two of them walked over to the lake and ate.

After they finished, Dave leaned back against a tree and Kurt leaned back against him. Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt and they interlaced their fingers.

“It’s been a month,” Dave leaned forward and placed gentle kisses on the back of Kurt’s neck.

“Mmm. That feels good.”

Dave continued with the kisses.

Kurt leaned to the side a bit and turned his head so that he could kiss Dave. “A whole month and you haven’t gotten tired of me yet.”

“Hey! Of course not. Nothing is boring when you’re around.”

“And you’re getting A’s in French.”

“Who knew all it would take was French kissing to get better French grades.”

Kurt rolled his eyes and kissed Dave. “Like this?” Kurt pressed in and licked his way into Dave’s mouth. They spent several minutes completely caught up in the sensations and excitement of kissing.

“Mmm hmm,” he said as the broke apart just slightly for air. “Just like that.”

Kurt kissed him gently one last time. “Happy one month-iversary. Next weekend, we’re going to double-down on the _Halo_ teamwork, so we can challenge Azimio and his partner of choice.”

“Sounds good. We better get back before we get teased mercilessly for sneaking off in the woods for a quickie.”

“What?”

Dave laughed and kissed him. “We’re two guys. All the guys on the team talk about half the time is getting laid. And it’s always the girls putting the brakes on everything. I’m sure that they think that since we’re both guys that there’s a lot of action going on.”

“I’m not ready for that. You’re not disappointed are you?”

“I’m not disappointed. I promise. I think that most of them have no idea how to be in a relationship with someone. Sure, I like it when we kiss – I like it a lot. But I like it when we talk and when we play games and when you tease me. I really like it when we snuggle. I told you back a month ago, if I was just looking to get laid, I could have done that easily. And if and when we get to that, I’m sure it will be mind-blowing and amazing because you don’t really do anything halfway.”

Kurt kissed him. “Well, that’s true.” He laughed and kissed Dave again. “As long as we’re okay with how things are, then that should be what matters, right?”

“Exactly. Hop up. We need to head back.”

Once they were both standing, Dave opened his arms and Kurt stepped into the hug he offered. “I’m happier than I’ve been in I don’t even know how long. If any of them tease you about ‘putting out’ or making you feel like you’re ‘the girl’, just ignore them and tell me. I don’t want you to feel like you have to keep things from me. We’re working on the trust issues we both have still. You’re not ‘the girl’. And you’re not keeping me from getting what I ‘really’ want from you. It’s quite the opposite – I have exactly what I want from you, which is just you. I like being with you.”

Kurt nodded. “Me too.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After breakfast, Kurt and Dave had set up some ridiculous relay-style team games. They had the offensive line compete against the defensive line. They played games with balloons, spoons and raw eggs, and some other silly games. But it got the group laughing and working together, and most importantly having fun.

They sent the defensive line off to do more fishing while the offensive line worked on their plays again. When they came back, the dads fired up the grills and let the players do the work to prep the fish.

After lunch, they sat around working on schoolwork. They create subject areas and the guys moved around and could get help with anything they were struggling with.

Paul gave a little pep talk on being good role models to the student body. He reminded them that graduating and getting good jobs was more important than being “top dog” because high school was a short period in a man’s life. He gave examples of how true leaders lead by supporting those around them, not by scaring people into doing what they want. He also told them that they could use the phone numbers any time they needed someone to talk to.

Around 4:00, everyone packed up the tents and the other stuff that had been brought and they headed out.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave rode back to the Hummel’s with Kurt.

“How do you think it went?” Kurt asked.

“They seemed to have a good time. I think if we do it again in the spring and the fall it will help. The seniors are already kind of beyond some of the point of doing it, but not all of them. I think the dad idea was good. I guess we’ll see by the way the team acts if it made any difference in getting them to be less jackass-ish in general.”

“I’m hoping that Puck got along with your dad. I think he could use someone to talk to.”

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Do you still have more homework?”

“Just a little. I want to take a shower first. Can you stay tonight or do you have to go home?”

“I have more clothes, but no more pajamas.”

“We can just throw all of our clothes in the washer when we get to my house. We should get you some pajamas for my house like I have at yours.”

“That’s a good idea. Let’s stop someplace on the way back.”

“There’s a Goodwill if you don’t want to spend much.”

“That’s fine. We’re going to wash everything anyway.”

Kurt stopped at the Goodwill. They grabbed 3 pairs of pajama pants and 3 t-shirts.

“What are you going to dress up as for Halloween?”

“I haven’t dressed up in several years.”

“Let’s find something.”

“Why do I need to dress up?”

“Because the kids think it’s fun? I dress up to hand out the candy. We can do it together this year if you want.”

“Last year I went to the hockey team party.”

“Oh, I didn’t think about that. There’s probably a football team party, but won’t that be later in the evening? Trick-or-treating hours are like 5:00-7:00 or something.”

“Okay. Let’s see what we can find. I could just wear my football pants and my middle school football jersey. It fits like a shirt now.”

“That could work.” Kurt was looking around. “Ooh. How about this?” He picked up a referee jersey.

“Perfect. You just need a whistle to wear around your neck.”

“I’m done then, if you are.”

Dave nodded. They got in line, paid, and left.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Since you don’t have any pajamas to wear, why don’t you shower first. I’ll throw the stuff we just got and your other stuff in the washer. You’ll just have to wait around for a bit until they’re done. You can wear whatever else you have. Go get in the shower so I can go wash everything.”

Dave went through his duffle and tossed the dirty stuff in a pile and took the last clean outfit he had with him to the bathroom. Kurt took the tags off of the stuff from Goodwill, grabbed the stuff Dave piled up, and then took Dave’s clothes from the bathroom after he heard Dave in the shower. He ran up and started the load.

When he came back down, he got the books out that he needed, and pulled out some pajamas to wear. By then, Dave was done. He got his history book out and positioned himself on the futon in a way that he was comfortable.

Kurt came back out about 15 minutes later in pajamas and went back upstairs. He came back down a half-hour later with Dave’s clothes, in two stacks. He offered the stack of pajamas and Dave grabbed a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt. Kurt turned his back, giving Dave a chance to put them on.

After he put the pajamas on and folded up what he had been wearing, he said, “I’m done.”

Kurt turned back around. He held out the stack of clothes, already folded. He kept the stack of pajamas.

“Thanks for washing them.”

“You’re welcome. Did your dad say you could stay?”

“I forgot to ask.”

“I’m going to put your pajamas in my dresser in the closet. Now, you can stay whenever your dad will let you.”

Dave followed him into the closet and looked around. “You have a lot of clothes.”

“I do. I know. I haven’t quite figured out my style yet. I keep trying different looks out.”

Dave stepped behind Kurt as he opened the dresser drawer. He ran his hands along Kurt’s biceps. “I think this is my favorite look on you.”

Kurt put the pajamas in the drawer, closed it, and turned around to face Dave. “My pajamas?”

“Yep. Your hair freshly washed and in your pajamas. Don’t get me wrong, you look super sexy in the tight jeans and stuff, but you look relaxed like this. Comfortable.”

Kurt wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck and stretched up and kissed him. “I’m working on it – the being comfortable with who I am. I know I act like I am all the time, but a lot of it is just bravado and an act. I’ve never fit in, so trying to was pretty pointless. But figuring out how to stand out in a way that’s ‘me’, I haven’t quite mastered yet.”

“Well, I like you just like this. Just regular you. No need for fancy clothes or fixing your hair or anything.”

Kurt leaned into him and let Dave hug him.

“Kurt?”

“Yeah, Dad?” He stepped out of the closet. “Did you need something?”

“I just didn’t know where you were. I called for you from the door and you didn’t answer.”

“Sorry. I was putting clothes in the closet. I did some laundry. There’s another load still going.”

“It’s fine.”

Dave came out of the closet.

“So, I’m going to order Chinese for dinner. We’re all tired and I know you’ve probably still got homework left.”

“Yeah. Dave had started on his, but I was up working on the laundry, but I’m getting ready to start mine too.”

“The camping idea seemed to work out. Everyone seemed to have a good time.”

“Thanks for helping.”

“Anytime, kiddo. What do you want me to order you, Dave?”

“Um, kung pao chicken.”

“Got it. I’ll call back down when it’s here.” Burt went back upstairs.

Dave sat down on the futon and picked his history book back up. Kurt grabbed his history book and sat down next to him. When his phone beeped, he went back upstairs to deal with the laundry and came back down after he hung some stuff up and moved the rest to the dryer. He plopped down next to Dave and flipped his book closed. Dave looked up at him and raised his eyebrows.

“Kisses.”

“I thought we were supposed to be studying.”

“We’ll take our books upstairs and work in the dining room after we eat. The food will be here soon. I just want to kiss you, unless you don’t want me to.”

Dave turned and pulled Kurt toward him and moved his legs so Kurt was sitting between his legs with his back angled so they could kiss easily. “Of course I want to kiss you. Like all the time.” He leaned forward and kissed along Kurt’s jaw line, and then moved to his lips.

Kurt wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck. Dave kept his arms wrapped around Kurt’s back to steady him since he didn’t have anything to lean against. When Burt called for them from the top of the stairs, Kurt pulled back and leaned his head against Dave’s chest for a minute before letting go and getting up. They grabbed their books and went upstairs.

Kurt dropped his stuff in the dining room and went back to the dryer and pulled his clothes out. He grabbed plates and drinks and took them back to the dining room.

“So, you boys have three games left this season.”

Dave answered, “Yeah, but we’re doing really well now, so we might make it into the playoffs.”

“It’s been a while since that’s happened.”

“Yeah, Z’s doing a good job coming up with plays and Puck’s been coming up with good training regimens for everyone to follow. Coach Tanaka is just useless.”

They talked more about the football team, school, and continued to eat. Once they were done, Dave helped Kurt clear the table and load the dishwasher. Burt went in the living room and turned the TV on. Dave and Kurt went back to the dining room and finished their schoolwork. When they came out, they saw that Burt wasn’t in the living room anymore.

“Do you want to watch a move? It’s just 8:30.”

“Sure. Give me your books and I’ll take them downstairs. Pick something for us to watch.”

Kurt picked a movie and put it in. He double-checked the front door locks and turned the lights off. Dave was back upstairs by then.

“Let’s try out the snuggle options.” Kurt scooted to the back edge of the side that ran perpendicular to the TV. “Stretch out next to me.”

Dave sat with his back against the section that ran parallel to the TV and stretched his legs out on the opposite section.

“Scoot closer.”

“I’ll squish you.”

“That’s kind of the point. Scoot closer so I can half lie on you.” They continued to rearrange and readjust until they were both comfortable.  Kurt pressed play on the remote.

“ _Charade_? I’ve never seen this.”

“Ooh. It’s good. It has Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn in it. I hope you like it.”

They snuggled and enjoyed the movie.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Coach Sue had finished the morning announcements before first period, or so it seemed. She blew her whistle, which was nearly deafening through the PA system. “I need all students to listen very carefully to today’s final announcement. The school’s disciplinary code has been expanded since last week. Effective immediately, throwing liquids of any sort at another student will be an automatic two-day detention. A second offense will be a two-day in-school suspension. A third offense will be a two-day out-of-school suspension. As a reminder to the sports team members, these disciplinary actions are cumulative. For those of you with a limited vocabulary, this means that they will stay in your record and be added together. So, if you commit these offenses during the off-season for your sport, they will still be in your record when your sport season starts. In addition to this, any school property damaged by throwing a drink will be assessed to the student who throws it. So, if you ruin a $100 textbook, you will pay to replace it. If the disciplinary changes are not enough to stop the slushie throwing, the slushie machines will be removed from the building. As a reminder, assignments and exams given during out-of-school suspension days CANNOT be made up. Detentions will be served without regard to sports team practice schedules. Student athletes who miss practice cannot play in games the week they miss. So, listen up!” She blew her whistle again. “What this means is: STOP throwing drinks at other students.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Before lunch, two of the hockey players managed to pin Dave to the wall.

“What the fuck, dude? We know you had something to do with getting the school to punish us for throwing slushies.”

Dave didn’t say anything.

“I thought you got the message in the parking lot that day. Do you need another lesson? This time it won’t be you. It’ll be your fairy boyfriend.”

Dave said nothing.

The two hockey players let go of him just enough that he began to move, and then they shoved him hard enough that he hit the wall and hit his head against the concrete wall.

“This is our final warning. Quit the football team. Both of you. We don’t want two fags representing our school.”

As soon as they turned, Dave called Kurt.

“Stay with someone. Don’t go into the cafeteria. If you’re already there, move so you’re sitting next to Puck or Azimio, now!”

“What’s going on? I’m already in the cafeteria with the girls.”

“Are you moving?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I’m on my way.”

When Dave got to the cafeteria, Kurt had managed to shove his way next to Puck at the football team’s table.

“What the hell, Hummel?”

“I don’t know. Dave just called me and said to sit next to you or Azimio right now.”

Dave came practically running into the cafeteria. He found Kurt and wove his way through the crowd to get to where he was. Strando got up and moved to the other side of the table and let Dave sit next to Kurt.

“What’s going on, Karofsky?” Puck asked.

“Stinson and Johnson just cornered me and threatened Kurt if he and I don’t quit the football team. They’re blaming me for the new anti-slushie rule. They said the school doesn’t want two fags on the football team. I didn’t want them to be able to grab him.”

“Got it. The football team doesn’t care that you’re gay. You’re keeping the other teams from taking Finn down giving him long enough to pass the ball to me, and Hummel’s the best kicker the school’s had in years.”   Puck banged his fist on the table.

The rest of the team looked up.

“Listen up. Stinson and Johnson threatened Hummel. I don’t want to see him by himself ANYWHERE. I happen to LIKE winning and we need Hummel to win. So, effective immediately, Hummel will not be by himself until we figure out how to put an end to their threats.”

A bunch of the guys nodded.

Azimio spoke up. “Hummel, write your schedule down and pass it around the table. We’ll figure out who can be with you.”

“I don’t want a secret service protection detail.”

Azimio argued, “Not your call, Hummel. The puckheads aren’t playing around and we need you in playing condition.”

One of the seniors spoke up. “Dude, Ohio State is sending a scout again this week. I know there were others here last week. We NEED to win. I could go to college if I get scouted. Hummel, you won’t even be going to the bathroom alone until we get them under control. Sorry, dude.”

“Fine.” Kurt wrote out his schedule and left a few spaces between each class.

Azimio spoke up again. “If you’re in a class with him, sign up first. We’ll pass it twice. If there are empty slots, whoever has the closest class will have to sign up. Two people per class. That way they can’t grab him.”

The sheet got passed around a few times. Azimio snatched it up. “For the rest of today, me and Puck got this. I’m going to make a chart and email it out to everyone who signed up. This starts tomorrow morning. Do NOT mess this up.”

Everyone nodded.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave scooted his chair closet to Kurt’s and sat down.

Kurt leaned over and put his head on Dave’s shoulder. “I am seriously reconsidering my previous interest in becoming famous.”

Dave laughed. “Why’s that?”

“I seriously despise being accompanied everywhere.”

Dave put his arm across the back of Kurt’s chair. He leaned in close. “My dad is still working on it. It shouldn’t be much longer.”

Kurt nodded.

Mr. Schue finally came in. “We need to raise money for sectionals.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Dudes, come on. You gotta come see. I came home yesterday from the camping trip and she was in my driveway.” Azimio was practically pushing Dave and Kurt out to the school parking lot. He had Mercedes by the hand.

“Nice, Z. You got your truck.”

“I’m a free man. I can take you out on dates now, Miss Jones.”

“If you ask politely, you just might get to.”

“Of course. Mercedes will you go out to the movies with me Saturday evening?”

“Sure.”

They walked to the truck.

“I know she’s not new, but she’s in good shape and the important part is that she’s mine.”

“She?” Mercedes asked.

“I haven’t named her yet. I have to get to know her a little better first.”

Mercedes just shook her head and laughed. “You boys and your trucks.”

“Don’t be dissing my truck, Miss Jones,” he teased her.

“I would never.” She laughed. “It’s a nice truck.”

Dave said, “It is. Now, I won’t have to haul your ass all over town. Enjoy your truck. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Kurt and Dave crossed the parking lot and when they got closer to Kurt’s Navigator, Kurt’s heart sank.

“Oh, God. They attacked my baby.” Kurt’s navigator had crudely spray painted rainbow stripes all the way around it. He took off running towards it.

Dave came running up behind him. “Photograph it. Call the police. Call your dad. I’ll call mine.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When the police showed up, Miss Pillsbury came out to the parking lot to talk with them. They photographed the damage and took down all of the required information to file a report.

Once they were done, she pulled the officers to the side and requested that they follow her into her office. What she showed them once they were in her office was that Mrs. Sturbaum had installed a surveillance camera in her office the afternoon after she had spent the morning observing the school. She asked Miss Pillsbury to record the parking lot activity starting 10 minutes before school let out until 30 minutes after the final sports practice for the day let out. Miss Pillsbury copied the surveillance footage and gave it to the police officers, along with the names and addresses of the perpetrators.

While the officers and Miss Pillsbury were inside, Burt, Paul, Kurt, and Dave discussed their options. Kurt and Dave admitted what had happened on Monday and they decided to go ahead with a police report from when Dave had been assaulted. When the officers came back out, the four of them followed the officers to the station and filed a report.

The officers realized that the five students who had been responsible for attacking Dave were the same five that spray painted Kurt’s Navigator during the intake for the report.

They discussed options and came up with one that was agreed upon by everyone.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt and Burt headed back to the shop together after they left the police station. Kurt rode in silence. Burt pulled in a spot and they went inside. Burt went back to work on what he was doing before he had gotten Kurt’s call to go to the school.

“You’re awfully quiet. I know your upset about the Nav, but I can get it repainted.”

“It’s not that.”

“Then what it is?”

“Mr. Schue gave Rachel a solo today and didn’t even give anyone else a chance. He just hands her everything. She’s such a diva that when she doesn’t get what she wants, she stomps off and we need her voice to do well in competitions, so he just gives in every time. Now, he’s not even bothering to give anyone else a chance and just preemptively gives her the spotlight and saves the time of the storming out and giving it to her later to appease her.”

“That’s not right.”

“It is what it is, but this time it’s just really frustrating because it’s a song that I can sing really well and I’d like to be the one that gets to sing it. I’m going to go straighten up the cash register and do the receipts.” Kurt walked away.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next morning during first period, the five students involved were picked up by police officers at school. They were taken down and booked for assault and vandalism.

When their parents arrived, Kurt, Dave, Paul, and Burt met with everyone in a conference room.

“My name is Paul Karofsky. I’m a lawyer, but I am hoping that we can settle this out of court. Your sons attacked my son, threatened to attack Kurt, and vandalized Kurt’s vehicle.”

“Allegedly,” one of the parents said.

“There is no allegedly involved. We have photos and video to prove that they did. The question is not whether your sons are guilty – the only question is the penalty for what they did. We want them to learn from their mistakes and we aren’t sure that being put in jail or juvenile detention is the best way to achieve that.”

“What are you proposing?” one of the moms asked.

“We want the five of them to withdraw from McKinley and attend school elsewhere. No sports for this school year. Community service. Tutoring to improve their grades. Counseling to help them overcome their lack of self-control and need to bully other people.”

“I don’t want to leave McKinley,” one of them said.

“Shut up. They say they have proof. You’re an idiot. You’re 18. You’ll go to jail for this. Do you want a criminal record? Just shut up.” The dad looked back at Paul. “Go on.”

“We also want family counseling. We don’t know why these five, in particular, feel the need to attack people who are different. But it needs to stop.”

One of the dad’s asked, “So, you want us to pull our kids away from their friends and talk to counselors about our feelings and shit all because they played a lame prank on a fag?”

“Well, if that’s how you see it, we can remove your son’s name from the list and go ahead and file charges. These aren’t the only two things these five have done. They’re just the only two that we have absolute proof of, which is enough for expulsion. We can go to court and subpoena students and teachers from the school. We can gather evidence on everything the five of them have done to every individual they’ve bullied.”

“I got it.” The man glared at his son.

The talks continued. By lunchtime, all of the parties had signed legal documents agreeing to the terms Paul outlined. And by the end of the school day, all five students had withdrawn from McKinley.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

As soon as they left the police station, Burt headed up to the school to deal with Mr. Schuester’s unwillingness to allow Kurt to try out for the solo he wanted. By the end of their meeting, it was settled. Mr. Schuester sent out an email for the Glee Club to meet before school the next morning.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When the students had all arrived before first period, Mr. Schue informed them that there would be a Diva Off for the solo. Rachel was irate, but Mr. Schue did not back down. They would perform Thursday morning before school. Kurt made everyone promise to vote for the person who sang the song the best after Rachel complained that it was just going to turn into a popularity contest.

Azimio, Mercedes, Dave, and Kurt left together.

“She’s something,” Azimio said. “She’s the hardest person in this school to keep myself from slushying. Her and JBI. She’s so damn annoying and full or herself.”

Mercedes agreed. “She thinks she’s God’s gift to the performing arts. That’s for sure.”

“You’re gonna put her in her place, right Kurt?” Azimio asked. “You can actually sing whatever the hell that song is, right?”

“I can.”

“Good.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

At lunchtime, the football team sat together.

“I don’t think I need a security detail anymore. Those jackasses won’t be back,” Kurt said as he slid a long, flat box onto the table.

“What do you know?” Azimio asked. He opened the box and grabbed three big cookies for himself and then pushed it out to the middle of the table. Once the other players saw that he had cookies, they grabbed for the box. It took about two minutes for all of the cookies to get snatched.

“I know that they’re not coming back.”

“Spill.”

“I can’t. Just rest assured that they won’t be back.”

“These are awesome,” Strando said.

“I’m glad you like them.”

Puck shoved his way in next to Kurt. “Move, Strando.” He sat down. “Dude, you and me should open a bakery. We’re supposed to be raising money for Sectionals. If you had sold those cookies for a buck a piece, we could have made like $50.”

“You can bake?”

“Hell, yeah. Cupcakes are my specialty.”

“Fine. Get Miss Pillsbury to let us use the home ec room after football and we’ll make cupcakes and cookies to sell tomorrow. We’ll send the girls out to get supplies while we’re at practice.”

“We have a home ec room? Like with stoves?”

“Duh. Just go ask Miss Pillsbury to let us use it after school.”

Puck got up and left. He plopped down in his wheelchair he had left along the wall when he came in. The cafeteria was not a good place to have 10 people in wheelchairs.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

By the end of the school day on Wednesday, the dust had settled. Burt and Paul’s trip to meet with the superintendent had been successful. In addition to the agreement signed by the parents the day before, the superintendent made other drastic changes to avoid litigation.

McKinley High School no longer had a hockey team. Principal Figgins had been fired and had been temporarily replaced by Miss Pillsbury until a new principal was hired. Coach Tanaka would finish out the football season so the football team could still practice and play, but he would be leaving the school at the end of the season. Several teachers were on probation as well, including Mr. Schuester, but only Kurt and Dave knew about the teachers.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt and Puck oversaw the baking in the home ec room after practice. Kurt mixed batch after batch of cookies, while Puck made several different kinds of cupcakes. Half of the girls placed the dough on cookie sheets and baked them in the ovens. The guys were given the job of cleaning the trays and mixing bowls so they could be reused. The other half of the girls poured the batter into the cupcake wrappers and showed the rest of the guys that wanted to learn how to frost the cupcakes neatly.

Two hours later, they had 12 dozen cupcakes and 20 dozen cookies.

Kurt spoke up. “I know this is a Glee Club fundraiser, but I think we will have a lot more success if those of us who are not popular do not participate in the actual sale tomorrow at lunch. I think that we’ll sell a lot more if Santana, Brittany, Finn, Mike, Matt, and Puck take turns sitting at the table. And no wheelchairs. I’d love to think that the school is accepting, but we all know it’s not.”

“That’s fine,” Puck said.

Everyone else just nodded.

“Let’s get them packed up for tomorrow.”

The guys finished washing everything and the girls started packing everything in storage containers. Once everything was back to the way it needed to be, they moved the baked goods to the choir room.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave dropped Kurt off at the shop Wednesday after they finished with the baking. Kurt went inside and found Burt manhandling the coffee maker like it had personally offended him.

“What’s going on, Dad? Why are you so upset? Did someone else not show up for work? You said it was okay if I helped bake cookies.” He walked up and got the coffee machine sorted out and started it brewing.

“No, that’s not it.”

“Then, what?”

“I finished what I was doing and this morning came back to mind. I got a call this morning.” He paused. “The anonymous kind.”

“Oh, I get those all the time.”

“But I don’t. I’m glad you’re having a good time with the Glee Club and stuff, but all of this worries me. All this crap with the school. It’s just too much. I want you to be safe.”

“So, you don’t want me to audition for the solo?”

“That’s not what I mean. No one pushes the Hummels around. I just hate it that things are like this. I wish your mom were still around. She was better at handling this kind of thing, at handling me.”

Kurt just nodded. “I’m going to go change and get started.” He headed to the employee changing area.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Thursday morning, Dave picked Kurt up from school since his Navigator hadn’t been repainted yet and he didn’t want to drive it around in the condition it was in. Kurt was unusually quiet after he got in. Dave reached over and put his hand on Kurt’s leg.

“Hey, what’s going on? Are you okay?”

“It’s not you. You didn’t do anything. I don’t know what to do about the Diva Off. Someone called the shop yesterday anonymously and told my dad that his son was a fag. I don’t know if I want to sing a song that’s performed by a woman in public. I don’t want people to go after him or his shop.”

“So, you’re going to back out?”

“I was thinking of just blowing the high note, and letting Rachel win.”

“No. Don’t do that. If you don’t want to sing the song anymore, just tell everyone the truth AFTER you beat her. She’ll be completely insufferable if you let her win. Please, do your best to win. You can turn the solo down afterwards if you decide you don’t want to perform it publicly.”

“I guess that’s true.”

Dave turned unexpectedly.

“Where are you going? We have to be there early.”

“We will be.” He pulled down the street into a gas station that had closed. He pulled the truck around the back of the station and put it in park. He took his seat belt off and slid across the seat. He took Kurt’s hand. “Look at me.”

Kurt turned his head from looking at the window and faced Dave. “Do this for yourself. Do your best. If you win, you win. If you don’t, at least you will have given it your best shot. Don’t let her win on purpose.” He put his hand behind Kurt’s neck, turned his head and kissed him gently.

Kurt pushed forward and pressed into the kiss, gaining some strength from Dave’s support. He pulled back and nodded. He wiped the tears that were threatening to fall.

Dave slid back over, put his seat belt back on, and drove them the rest of the way to the school. When they got there, he parked in the area that he knew the surveillance camera covered. He grabbed his bag, stepped out of his truck, and shut the door behind him. He stood there for a second and took a deep breath. He walked to the end of the truck and when Kurt came around the end, Dave reached for his hand and interlaced their fingers. Kurt turned quickly and looked at him.

“It’s fine. I’m pretty sure that any bullies that are left aren’t here 40 minutes before school starts. I’m tired of hiding how I feel. Why shouldn’t I get to hold your hand? I mean unless you really don’t want me to.”

“I do. I’m just surprised. Pleasantly surprised, but still.”

Dave squeezed his hand and they kept walking. When they got to the choir room, most everyone was there. Mike and Matt came in behind them. Once everyone was seated, Mr. Schue flipped a coin to see who would go first.

Rachel sang first. She did a really good job on the song. Kurt looked around and saw that everyone seemed to enjoy her version. But he knew that she could never connect to the song the way he did. He closed his eyes and focused. When she finished, he clapped politely, and then stood and went down front.

The music started again. He closed his eyes for a few beats. He started singing. He focused on the song, but also on making a connection with the people he was singing in front of. When he got to the part with the high note, he looked at Dave, who winked at him. He sang out loud and strong and had no trouble with the high F. When he finished, everyone clapped. He went back to his seat.

Mr. Schue passed on slips of paper to everyone except Kurt and Rachel. Once everyone had written a name on their slip, he collected them. He went in his office and tallied them. He came back out a couple of minutes later. “Kurt has won the Diva Off. He will be singing the solo.”

Rachel got up and stomped out of the room. Finn got up and followed her out. Quinn rolled her eyes.

Kurt stood up. “You didn’t all vote for me just to make her mad did you?”

“No, Twinkle Toes. We voted for you because you killed it.”

“Yeah,” Mercedes agreed.

“I never heard the song before, but I liked your version better,” Azimio said. “It just seemed like you meant it when you sang it. Her version was all perfect and everything, but it just didn’t make me feel anything.”

“Yeah, you made me feel like you could fly,” Brittany said.

Kurt sat back down. Dave put his arm around Kurt’s shoulders and squeezed.

“Alright, then. I guess they’re not coming back this morning. We’re going to work on a song, but before we do that, I just want to remind you all that whoever is using the wheelchairs this afternoon needs to meet Azimio and Dave after school to load them up in their trucks. They have to be returned by tomorrow. It was nice of the places I borrowed them from to loan them to us, but we need to get them back on time. Dave and Azimio, see me before you leave so you can get the sheets on where to take them.”

Rachel and Finn didn’t return before the first warning bell.

Dave put his hand on Kurt’s leg and kept him from getting up right away. Once everyone had started to leave the room and their backs were turned, Dave leaned over and kissed Kurt right below his ear. “You were amazing.”

Kurt blushed and grabbed his bag and stood up. Dave followed him and walked him to his first period class.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

By the end of lunch on Thursday, they had raised enough money for the bus for Sectionals. During rehearsal Thursday afternoon, they all worked on their wheelchair choreography. They had all developed a good sense of respect for how hard Artie would have to work in order to participate in the dancing portion of their pieces.

After practice ended, they loaded the wheelchairs up in Dave and Azimio’s trucks. Mercedes headed out with Azimio and Kurt went with Dave to return each of the wheelchairs to the places that Mr. Schue had borrowed them from for the week.

Once they were done, Dave took Kurt to the shop and he worked for a couple of hours. Dave sat in the lounge and did his physics and pre-calculus homework. Kurt closed up the shop at the end of his shift. He and Dave went to the Karofsky’s for the evening.

Dave and Paul worked together to make one of the simple meals that Kurt had taught them to prepare while Kurt took a shower. When he came back down, they sat down and ate. They talked about their week at school and Paul was not pleased to find out that the Glee Club had raised money for a special bus, but he let it go after asking a few questions. Dave cleaned up after dinner, allowing Kurt to get started on his schoolwork.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave walked up behind Kurt and leaned over to see what he was working on. He put his hands on the back of the desk chair and kissed Kurt on the back of the neck.

“Mmm.” Kurt turned and looked up and kissed Dave. “You did a good job with dinner.”

“Thanks. I had a good teacher.”

Kurt laughed. He got up out of his chair and stretched. “I don’t actually have a lot of homework tonight. Do you have much left?”

“Less than a half-hour. I just have the history reading left to do.”

“I have a few math problems left and the same history reading.” He raised up and kissed Dave. “You can shower first while I finish these up.”

“Okay.”

An hour later, they were both done and they were lying flat on their backs in the pitch dark.

“Winning this morning didn’t feel as good as I thought it would.”

“That’s because she was such a bad sport about it. She can’t stand to not win. She’s used to Mr. Schue giving her what she wants. I mean you told me about Invitationals. She hadn’t even been coming to rehearsals and she just walked in and took the lead like it belonged to her.”

“She did say that she wanted to be our friend more than she wanted to be a star. But I think she just got fed up with Mr. Ryerson because he’s crazy. And I have no idea who he would have cast as Brian Roberts or Maximillian. Plus, that show isn’t really suitable for a high school production here in Lima. I mean Roberts is bisexual and the emcee dresses in drag – fishnets, heels. I cannot imagine anyone at McKinley being willing to play a bisexual or a crossdresser.”

“I’ve never seen it. I don’t know anything about it.”

“Well, even IF Mr. Ryerson could find two guys willing to play those parts, the students wouldn’t be interested in watching the musical. And I’m not even sure they could fill the auditorium with adults who would be interested in watching it. If we lived in a bigger city, sure, but here, it’s doubtful. I’m not sure why _Cabaret_ was even chosen, other than it’s ability to attract Rachel to be in it. Anyway, I don’t think that ‘Defying Gravity’ is a good idea for Sectionals. It’s too slow and we’d have to have the right judges for it to make good impression on them. Without knowing the musical, it won’t pack that much of a punch. I guess we’ll see how angry she still is next Monday at practice. I do feel better knowing that I didn’t just give up. She does need to learn that she’s not the best for every solo. She is the best at some things. But Mercedes is better at others. Tina has a really lovely pure clear voice. And Santana should have been the one to sing lead on that song at Invitationals. She had been to the practices and she could have done that song justice. Rachel should have been allowed to join us, but she should have taken Santana’s place, not April’s. None of it matters now. I just want us to win Sectionals so we can keep on competing.”

“Do you want to be a performer?”

“I don’t know. I love doing it. But I’ve never had a lead or solo in anything. I’m not sure what I want to do. I need to figure it out soon though. I don’t really know how I can be in a production though. Football will be over soon, but I still have work. I’m too tired to keep thinking about it.” He turned on his side.

Dave rolled over to face him. “You did a great job. Don’t let her get you down. Like the song – you defied people’s expectations.” He pressed forward and kissed Kurt.

“I’ll try.” He turned over and scooted back.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

On Friday, each of the New Directions received notes from Mr. Schue during their third period classes to meeting the choir room for the last 10 minutes of lunch. They all arrived as requested and sat down. Once they were all seated, Quinn got up and said that she had a song that she wanted to sing for everyone.

Mr. Schue moved the microphone stand to the center of the room and dimmed the lights with the spotlight shining on the area in the center. The music started and six other pregnant girls entered the room and stood in a row behind her before she began to sing. She introduced them as the Unwed Mothership Connection and they sang back up and danced as she sang “Man’s World”. When she finished, everyone got up and hugged her.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Friday after football practice, Quinn had Finn drive them to Paul’s office.

“Why are we at a law firm?” Finn asked.

“I’ll explain inside.”

Puck had left school as quickly as possible. He parked behind the building and was in another room when they got there. Finn and Quinn were shown to Paul’s office as soon as they entered the waiting area.

“Please sit down, Finn.” Quinn was the one who started to speak. “There’s something I need to tell you and I can’t do it at my house or at school. Mr. Karofsky’s been helping me with something, so I thought I’d bring you here. I’m sorry.” Quinn was crying. “I lied to you.”

“What do you mean?” Finn asked.

“You’re not the father of this baby.”

Finn looked stunned. “I mean that makes sense because we never had sex, but you were so convincing about the hot tub thing that I believed you. Who’s the father?”

“I’m not going to say.”

“Why’d you do it? If you didn’t want to be with me, you just had to say so.”

“Why’d you cheat on me with Rachel when you knew I was pregnant and you thought the baby was yours? You kissed her. You took her out on a date. You followed her out of the room yesterday morning.”

“You knew?”

“Finn, we’re young. We were all 15 at the time. We’re stupid obviously. I cheated. You cheated. I realize that what I did went a lot farther than you and Rachel, but the issue remains that obviously neither one of us feels strongly enough about the other to be faithful to each other.”

“Why are we at a law office?”

“I already answered that. I couldn’t think of anywhere safe I could tell you that I wouldn’t possibly be overheard. I’m putting the baby up for adoption. Mr. Karofsky is my lawyer. I’m going through an agency and the adoptive parents are paying my medical expenses.”

“Wow. Okay. So, like we’re just not going to talk about this at school at all? No one is going to know that the baby’s not mine or what?”

“I’m switching schools. I’m actually moving to a home for teen mothers that’s affiliated with the adoption agency. Those girls that were at the school at lunch – they live there too. My parents don’t know I’m pregnant yet, but they’re due here in a half-hour. I’ve already packed and my stuff is in Mercedes’ car. She let Azimio pick her up for school today. But she’ll be here later to drive me to Columbus. I’ll probably be back at McKinley after the baby’s born, but I’m not sure. My dad will throw me out. That’s why I looked into places to go. I just wanted to tell you. I didn’t just want to disappear. I’m not old enough to take care of a kid. I’m not even 16 yet.”

“Yeah, yeah. I get it. I mean I was going to try, but you’re right,” Finn said. He slumped back in his chair. “So, do you want me to go?”

She stood up. “Yeah. I don’t think you’ll want to be here when my parents get here.”

“What do you want me to say at school?”

“Leave it to Mercedes. She’s going to tell people that it was in the baby’s best interest to put it up for adoption and that I’ve gone to live somewhere else for a while. People can email me if they want to keep in contact. I know email is lame, but I won’t be able to keep my cell phone more than likely. No way to pay for it. We’ll see. You can tell people that I broke up with you because I cheated on you and the baby isn’t yours. I don’t want you to keep being blamed for something you had nothing to do with. It wasn’t any of their business to start with, but you know how much people like to gossip. I wish I had never told anyone.”

“Okay. I’m sorry about Rachel too.” He stood up and walked toward the door.

She followed him and hugged him before he left. She sat back down in the chair she had been sitting in. “Well, that was a lot less dramatic than I had anticipated.”

“Well to be honest,” Paul said. “Now, he won’t be responsible for caring for a baby, which is I’m sure is a huge relief.”

“Yeah.” She wiped tears from her eyes.

Paul finally spoke. “I know that Puck is here, but do you want him to stay? It won’t make any difference since this is going to be a closed adoption. The birth certificate will have the adopted parents’ names on it.”

“I just want to talk to him before my parents get here.”

Paul had Puck brought to his office. “I’ll leave you two for a moment.” Paul stepped out of the office.

“I’m really sorry, Puck. I blamed you when we’re equally at fault. It’s just that being equally at fault doesn’t turn out to be equal when I face all of the consequences. I’m the one that’s about to be thrown out of my house and disowned. I’m the one that will gain 40 pounds and have to work like mad to ever be able to cheer again.   I’m the one that loses everything I’ve ever had. I took it out on you, but you get to walk away from this with no consequences. Finn doesn’t know it was you. No one does. You told me you were using protection. I know you lied to me. I was a virgin and I wouldn’t know the difference. And I don’t know if you’re just stupid enough to think that virgins can’t get pregnant or what, but don’t do this to another girl. Swear to me.”

“I swear, Quinn. I won’t. And you’re right. I was stupid. Everyone said it couldn’t happen the first time.”

“Go to the free clinic and get tested too. That’s how I know you lied to me. My test results came back. I don’t want to talk about that. I just want you to swear that you will never have unprotected sex again unless you’re actually trying to conceive a child with some future wife or long-term girlfriend.”

“I swear. The clinic?”

“Yeah. There’s a free one in town. Look it up and go – like when you leave here. I don’t really have anything else to say to you. You know that you don’t have to sign anything. And you don’t want to be here when my parents get here.”

Puck stood up. “I know it means nothing because you’re right that I don’t have to face the consequences that you do, but I am sorry.”

She closed her eyes and nodded.

Puck left.

Quinn spent the next five minutes trying to get herself together before her parents arrived. Paul showed them in and they sat down together.

“Quinnie, why are we here?”

“Are you in some kind of trouble, young lady?”

“Daddy, just listen. I’m pregnant.”

“What?” he yelled. “Who? I’m going to…”

Judy cut in. “Quinn, dear. Is Finn the father?”

“No, he’s not and I’m not saying who is. All I’m going to say is that it was someone my age and it was consensual.”

“You’re not my daughter, Lucy Quinn Fabray. My daughter would not allow herself to get pregnant.”

“Daddy…”

“Don’t ‘Daddy’ me. I’m not going to listen to this. You got yourself into this mess. You can get yourself out. Don’t come home.” He got up to walk out of the office. Paul got up quickly to follow him.

Quinn broke down.

“Honey, he doesn’t mean that.”

“You know he does, Mom. It doesn’t matter anyway. I knew what was coming. I’ve chosen adoptive parents already. I’m moving to a home for teen moms in Columbus this afternoon. The couple is going to pay my medical expenses. It will be a closed adoption. I’m 15. I can’t care for a baby. I’m doing what’s right. The home is better than me trying to live with someone from school. You can come visit me.”

Judy was crying. “How did this happen?”

“The same way it always happens, Mom. I had sex. Just once. Back in June. The baby’s due in March. I need you to sign some paperwork to give the home legal guardianship until after the baby’s born.”

Paul slid a stack of paperwork to Judy. She picked it up and looked it over, and then turned and looked at Quinn.

“I just can’t believe this, honey. I know you’re not lying, but I thought you knew better.”

“I did know better. I did it anyway. It happens. Now, I have choices to make. I don’t want an abortion. So, I’m putting the baby up for adoption. The parents have been married 10 years. They’re both professors at OSU. They have money for the mom to stay home. She’s going to take a two-year sabbatical. They can give this baby what I can’t. I can’t be a good mom when I’m only 15. This is the best thing for all of us. Just sign, please.”

“Yes, of course, but I’m going to come see you. I’m not happy about the choice you made last June, but you’re my daughter.” She turned back to Paul. “Do you handle divorces?”

“I do. Hold that thought though. I got my secretary to keep him from leaving because he needs to sign these forms too. Let me get him and get that part over with. You two can talk more after he leaves.” Paul brought Mr. Fabray back into the office. “I need you to sign these forms in all of the indicated spots.”

Mr. Fabray picked up the pen and signed all of the forms. “Is that it?”

“Yes.”

He got up and walked out of the office.

Once he had been gone long enough to have left the building, Mrs. Fabray spoke again. “Getting a divorce may be next on my list of things to do. I want Quinn with me when she comes back.” She looked through the forms again. She picked up a pen and started signing the forms. “How are you going to get there?”

“Mercedes is taking me. I packed my stuff in her car yesterday. I’m not taking that much. I’ll be sharing a room with another girl. It’s like a dorm. None of my clothes will fit soon anyway. I’m already only able to wear my dresses. I’ll just get some leggings to wear under them for the winter and I’ll wear cardigans over the top.”

“I think that’s all of them.” She laid the pen on top of the stack.

Paul looked through the stack. “That’s it.”

Quinn’s phone pinged. She took it out and looked at it. “Mercedes is here.”

“Oh, Quinnie. I’m going to miss you.” She stood up and so did Quinn.

“I know. I’m going to miss you too. I know Dad won’t keep paying for my phone. I’m not sure what to do about that.”

“You let me worry about that. Keep it because I want to be able to call you.”

Quinn nodded. She hugged her mom. “I’m sorry, Mom. I’m really sorry. I have to go.” Quinn picked her bag up and left the office.

“You’re sending those transfer papers to the school, right?”

“Yes, Mrs. Fabray. Everything will be done Monday morning. If you decide you’d like to see me again, please make an appointment and I’ll be glad to help you. I’ve been where you are. Recently. I sided with my son. My wife left. Different issue, but the same result.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. It hasn’t really hit me yet. I’m not sure what to do.”

“Well, Quinn has been under a lot of pressure. I’m hoping that changes. She’s made a tough choice. So did my son. It’s hard as the parent too because we want to take their pain away.”

She nodded. “Thank you for helping her. I’m sad that she didn’t feel like she could come to us for the support she needed, but I’m glad she found someone to help her. I don’t know where she got the money to pay you.”

“I didn’t do this for money. I did this to help her.”

“How did she even know that you would help her?”

“My son goes to McKinley. Beyond that I can’t really say.”

She nodded in understanding. She stood up. “Well, I appreciate you helping her.”

“I’m glad I was able to.”

Judy left. Paul sat at his desk and arranged the paperwork and shed a few tears over another family torn apart.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The football team boarded the school bus at 6:00 to leave for their away game. The Titans managed to win, but with their slimmest margin of the season since the first game they won: 14-12. Puck’s game was off. Azimio approached him after the game.

“You okay, dude?”

“I’m just not feeling great. Sorry about tonight. I’m going home when we get back to the school. Not feeling the party spirit tonight.”

“Gotcha. For being sick, you did a kickass job. We still won.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll leave you be. Get better.” Azimio walked back over to where he had been sitting behind Dave and Kurt.

“He okay?” Dave asked.

“Says he’s sick and he’s going home when we get back. Sucks to try to play when you’re sick. You know all about that D. Playin’ like you did after you got the crap kicked out of you.”

“Yeah. Kurt and I aren’t going to the party either. Neither one of us really likes them much. We’re going go to my place and practice _Halo Reach_ so we can kick your butt tomorrow.”

“Yeah, you work on that,” he laughed. “We gotta be done by 5:00 though ‘cause I’m takin’ Mercedes out even though we postponed the movie.”

“What are you going to do?” Kurt asked.

“I don’t actually know. She says it’s a surprise. We’re going to the movies next weekend to see _This is It_.”

“Ooh. I want to see that SOO bad,” Kurt said.

Dave took his hand. “We can go. We’ll figure out when. I’m sure it will play for a while.”

Azimio said, “I’m gonna take a nap. Later, dudes.” He slid back into his seat and used his hoodie as a pillow against the window and closed his eyes.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

About an hour later, Kurt was in the shower in Dave’s room and Dave was in the shower in Paul’s room. Dave was the first back down to the kitchen and he ladled chili into two bowls to let it cool a bit. He set the table and poured them drinks. By the time he finished, Kurt came into the kitchen. Dave pulled him into a hug as he came in.

“Ready to eat?”

“Yeah. It smells good.”

“My dad followed the recipe you gave him and started it when he got home from work, so I guess we’ll see whether he did it right.” He pulled Kurt close and they stood that way for a minute or so. He loosened his hold and took a tiny step back and kissed Kurt before he turned him and put his hands on his hips and nudged him back into the dining room.

After they finished eating and cleaning up, they went in the den where Paul was watching a football game on TV.

“Congratulations on your win.”

“Thanks. How did you know?”

“I listened to the game on the radio. I recorded this game.” He pressed pause. “It was a closer game tonight.”

Dave responded, “Yeah, I guess Puck was sick or something. He told Z he wasn’t feeling good.”

Paul nodded. He had a good idea about the real reason Puck’s game was off. “You still managed to pull off a win.”

Kurt nodded. “The chili was good.”

“I followed your directions.”

“I can tell. You did a good job.”

“I appreciate you teaching us.”

“I don’t want you two to starve or be the sole reason the Chinese place stays in business.”

Paul laughed. “I’d order pizza and pick up tacos sometimes too.”

“Uh huh. I think vegetable soup is next on the agenda.”

“The crockpot meals are perfect because no one has to do anything in the afternoons.”

“I make them a lot for me and my dad. It’s just easier. I can make dinner and his lunch for the next day all at once.”

“So, what are you weekend plans.”

“Homework,” Dave answered.

“And _Halo_. We’re going to play Azimio tomorrow. I think I’m finally good enough not to just die repeatedly. Well, at least not immediately. Other than that, I don’t know of any plans.”

“Don’t forget that at some point the lawn needs mowed one last time for the season, Dave.”

“Got it. I’ll check the weather.”

“Make sure to put the bag on the mower for the front yard. I don’t want the chopped up leaves all over the front yard. The flower pots and boxes need dumped and stored too.”

“Right.”

“Use the weed eater around the house and the patio. And get the leaves off the patio.”

“Got it. We’re going to go to sleep. We’re tired.”

Paul turned the game back on and nodded.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“I know we were going to play _Halo_ , but I’m really tired. Can we go to sleep instead? I need to do pretty much everything your dad mentioned about yard work at home too.”

“We could do both places together if you want.” Dave turned the overhead light off and pulled the covers back.

Kurt got in bed and lay down. “Sure. I was going to do a little holiday decorating too. We could do more here probably.”

“Like what?” Dave turned his side table lamp off and got in bed with Kurt. He lay down on his side facing him.

“Well, we could carve pumpkins.” Kurt scooted closer to Dave.

“I haven’t done that in a long time. Sounds fun.”

“Okay. We can go get some after we beat Azimio at _Halo_ tomorrow afternoon.”

“Good plan.”

Kurt kissed Dave, and then turned over on his other side. He scooted back against Dave’s chest and let Dave wrap his arm around him.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next morning after they ate breakfast, they got started on the list of outdoor chores that Paul had given Dave to do. Kurt wore some of Dave’s old clothes and pair of work boots Dave had barely worn that were still in his closet. Kurt did the trimming while Dave mowed. They worked together to get the other things done. They showered and redressed after they finished. They made lunch together. Kurt taught Dave how to make fajitas. Just about the time everything was ready to eat, Paul came in from golfing.

“The yard looks great guys and it looks like I’m just in time to eat.”

Kurt grabbed a third plate and brought it out to the table. He and Dave put everything out and they all dug in.

“This is really good, Kurt.”

“Thanks. I showed Dave how to do it and he wrote down the spices, so he should be able to make them himself now.”

They talked about school and football while they ate.

“Why don’t you invite a couple of the guys over tonight? I’ll order pizzas and you all can watch movies or play games or whatever. Azimio hasn’t been here in a while. You could invite Puck too.”

“I suppose. Puck and I have never been friends really. But I’ll invite him if you want me to. I don’t know if he’ll come. He told Z he wasn’t feeling good yesterday night.”

“What about some of the other guys?”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Just let me know what you decide. I’ve got a bunch of paperwork that I need to get through. Thanks for lunch.” Paul took his stuff to the kitchen and put it in the dishwasher and went up to his room.

“So much for any leftovers,” Kurt teased.

“It’s fine. I didn’t know he was coming back for lunch, but at least there was enough for all of us. I’ll wash up the pans.”

Kurt grabbed the rest of the stuff from the table and loaded it into the dishwasher and turned it on.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave turned on his Xbox and sent Azimio a text. Ten minutes later, Kurt, Dave, Azimio, and Puck were battling it out. A few hours later, Dave issued the invitation to come over that evening.

“Nah, man, you remember I got a date with my lady. That’s why I gotta be off of here by 5:00.”

“Another time, dude,” Puck said. I’m going to see my sister and my nana.”

“Alright. Well, you two have fun.” Dave shut the game off.

“Well, we didn’t win, but we came close,” Kurt said.

“Yeah. We can still work on it. They’ve both been playing for ages.”

“You ready to go out and get pumpkins?”

They put the controllers and headsets away and headed out.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Oooh. Let’s get a pie pumpkin too. I’ll make pumpkin bread,” Kurt said when they looked through the pumpkin selection.

Dave found one he liked and put it in their cart. “Did you find one you like?”

“Maybe, but it’s down on the bottom and I can’t reach it.”

“Show me.”

Kurt pointed to one. Dave leaned over the side of the box and pulled it up. He turned it so that Kurt could see the whole thing.

“I like it.”

Dave smiled and put it in the cart. “I don’t see any pie pumpkins. Maybe we could just get a can of pumpkin inside instead.”

“Sure. We can get two and I’ll make a pumpkin pie too. Oh, and a can of whipped cream.”

“You should start baking stuff and selling it at the football team table. I know that you work, but you can make like three or four dozen cookies in an hour and you can sell them for a buck a piece. If you did that just one day a week, you could make like $25-30 after the cost of the ingredients.”

“That’s true. I’ll think about it. I could do it on Sunday evenings and sell them every Monday.” Kurt grabbed the cans of pumpkin and they moved on to the dairy case.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Kurt answered, “That’s why we had to stop to pick them up. They make carving the pumpkins so much easier.” Kurt opened the carving kit and laid the tools out between them.

They spent nearly an hour working on their jack-o-lanterns. Kurt’s timer on his phone went off and he went inside. He washed his hands and pulled the loaf of pumpkin bread out and put the pie in. He went back outside and reset his phone timer.

“I think mine’s done. I just need to wipe it down.” He went inside and brought out a damp rag and wiped the outside of his jack-o-lantern off. He turned it around so Dave could see.

“It’s great, much better that mine, even with your fancy carving tools. I will say mine looks better than any previous attempt.” He turned it so Kurt could see.

“I like it. Very traditional. Do you have some tea candles?”

“Maybe? How about I show you the closet where stuff like that would be and you tell me.”

Kurt laughed. “Sure, but let’s clean all of this up first.”

He found two votive candles in the closet. “These are good enough for tonight. We’ll get some tea candles from my house tomorrow.” He took them outside.

They put their jack-o-lanterns on the corner of the retaining wall closest to the patio table and lit the candles. Kurt stepped back took a couple of pictures. Dave stepped behind him and wrapped his arms around Kurt’s waist.

“They look good together.” He kissed the back of Kurt’s neck.

“They do.” He turned and wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck and raised up and kissed him gently. “Let’s go watch the _It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown_.”

Dave laughed. “And eat some of the pumpkin bread?”

“Of course.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sunday morning, they went to the Hummel’s. Kurt started a stew in the oven before they did all of the yard work that needed done. Once they finished, Kurt got the two mums he had bought the evening before out of the truck bed and put one on each side of the front door and watered them.

They took turns showering. Once they were back upstairs, Kurt checked on the food in the oven.

“Come help me decorate the front storm door.” Kurt reached under the sink and grabbed the window cleaner and a couple of paper towels.

Dave followed him into the foyer.

“When I saw these I thought they’d be perfect. I quit putting pumpkins out front because they ended up smashed every year, but we can decorate the door.” He cleaned it.

They pulled the window clings off the sheets and put them all around the glass. Kurt cleaned the outside of the door as well. As he was finishing up, Burt pulled up in the driveway.

“Well, I leave to run some errands and I come back and the yard work has all been done. And you’ve decorated.”

“You like?”

“It’s great.”

“Lunch is almost done and I brought pumpkin pie for dessert.”

Dave opened the door and let Burt in. He and Kurt went to Burt’s truck and brought the other shopping bags in. Kurt plated their lunches and took them to the dining room. Dave brought glasses of water.

“Thanks for doing the yard work. It really looks great.”

“You’re welcome,” Kurt said. “We did Dave’s yesterday.” Kurt pulled his phone out. “There’s our jack-o-lanterns.”

“Nice. What are you two doing this afternoon?”

“Homework. It’s nice out. Maybe we’ll do it out back.”

“That’s fine. I got everything on the list you left yesterday, except they were out of pork chops, so I bought a pork loin. You can just cut it up however you want.”

“That will work. How are things at the shop? Do I need to go in on Saturdays to keep things caught up?”

“We’re fine for now. Football ends soon and you can help more then. You know we always get an influx the beginning of December when people realize their bald tires aren’t going to be of any use in the snow.”

They finished up. Kurt and Dave washed everything and put it away. They grabbed their books and spent the afternoon outside on the back patio doing their homework.

Burt looked out the living room window and saw them holding hands and reading out of textbooks. He shook his head slightly and smiled.


	6. Chapter 6

Monday afternoon everyone was in the choir room except Quinn. Mr. Schue got them all to quiet down. Mercedes raised her hand.

“Yes, Mercedes?”

“I just wanted to give everyone a message from Quinn. She wanted me to tell everyone that she’s fine, but that she won’t be back to school until after the baby’s born or maybe next fall. She moved to a home for teenage moms. It’s where she met those girls that were singing with her on Friday.”

The room was completely silent.

Finn broke the silence. “I saw her Friday before she left. She broke up with me and told me that the baby wasn’t mine and that her parents, well her dad, would kick her out when he found out that she was pregnant. She didn’t want to try to live couch-surfing, so she’s going to that home.”

Mercedes cut in. “I drove her there. It’s nice. The place is like a college dorm. There are two girls in each room with beds, desks, and closets. There are a couple lounge rooms with TVs and there’s a computer lab. They all go to the same school together. There’s a nurse there in the building 24/7. Her roommate is nice.”

Tina asked, “What about the baby?”

Finn responded, “She’s putting it up for adoption.”

“That’s harsh to throw her out,” Artie said.

No one said anything for a few minutes.

“I was going to have us work on ballads this week,” Mr. Schue tried to get the lesson started.

Kurt raised his hand.

“Yes, Kurt?”

“After a lot of thought over the last few days, I don’t think it’s in our best interest as a group for me to sing ‘Defying Gravity’ for Sectionals.”

“Kurt you won the Diva Off fair and square,” Mr. Schue countered.

“I know. But I did some research and I really think that we need an emotional ballad that will resonate with more of the audience members as well as the judges. I suggest that Thursday we have everyone interested in performing a ballad solo present their song to the group. Except Rachel.”

“What?” Rachel turned and looked at him seething.

“Just stop, Rachel and listen. I think that Rachel and I should sing ‘What is this Feeling?’ from _Wicked_ instead. Mr. Schue, I know that you don’t consider me a viable male lead for the group and we can agree to disagree on that, but ‘What is this Feeling?’ is designed to be a duet for two female singers and there is a whole choir section as part of the song. I’d like us to give it a try. I’m sure that Rachel knows the song. She can be Elphaba or Galinda. It doesn’t matter to me. So, which will it be, Rachel? Which one can you sing right now?”

“I’ve always seen myself as Elphaba, so let’s try it that way first.”

“Fine.” Kurt stood. He pulled his phone out and hooked it to a dock and started the music.

They both played up their parts, which was pretty easy for Kurt since he totally disliked the way Rachel dressed and her attitude.

When they finished, they remained in place.

Mr. Schuester said, “Wow, that was amazingly good considering the two of you have never sung together.”

“Thank you,” Kurt said. “I think that my singing a ‘girl’s song’ would be much more accepted in this type of performance. Since we will be wearing some type of formal wear, there’s no potential for people to see me as trying to pretend to be a girl. And technically it is a boy/girl duet since I’m a guy and Rachel’s a girl.”

“I agree. I’ll get the music for the rest of the group to learn the choir part.”

“Do you want us to sing it the way we just did or do you want us to switch?”

“Let’s try it the other way once and see. The group can vote afterwards.”

Artie put his hand up. “Can someone explain this a little bit first?”

“Galinda, who I just portrayed is the good witch in the _Wizard of Oz_. Elphaba is the Wicked Witch of the West. The song is from _Wicked_ , which is sort of like the back story for the _Wizard of Oz_. So, in the musical, the character Rachel was portraying is wearing green body paint, her hair is in a single braid, and she wears a quite sad looking black frock, meaning a very boring black dress. She is made up to look very homely. Galinda is in nice fancy clothes and has blonde hair and is quite attractive. At first they hate each other and the rest you can learn later if you want. This is the song they sing not too long after they meet.”

“Got it,” Artie says.

Kurt started the music over and they switched roles.

“So, which way do you think is better?” Mr. Schue asked. “Raise your hands if you liked it the first way they sang it.” He counted. Both Kurt and Rachel raised their hands as well as about half of the group.

“Alright then, that’s what we’ll go with. Thursday bring your ballads and we’ll start working on the choir parts for ‘What is this Feeling?’ I have surprising news. Sue offered money from the Cheerios budget to put in the ramp that Artie wanted to build with the money you all raised for the bus. So, we’ll be getting the bus AND the new ramp.”

They all looked dumbfounded, especially Santana.

“Be thinking of ballads. If you don’t want to sing one, but can think of a good one for someone else in the group to sing, you can nominate someone as well. I’m going to let the guys leave, but I want the girls to come with me to the costume area in the auditorium. I want to see what we can find that we could use for Sectionals. Obviously, we don’t have any extra money to spend on five new dresses.”

Tina raised her hand.

“Yes, Tina?”

“Kurt should come with us because he’s the most likely to be able to alter anything we find. He’s a better tailor than I am. And I don’t think anyone else sews, do they?”

No one spoke up.

“Fine. Kurt, please come with us to look at what we have.”

The girls got up and followed Mr. Schue. Azimio walked with Mercedes and Kurt and Dave followed the group.

When they got there, they started looking around.

“I see several dresses like this,” Kurt held one up for the others to see – a sleeveless slightly above the knee length black dress.

“I saw a couple of those,” Rachel said.

“Me too,” Brittany added.

“Okay. Everyone look for all of these dresses.”

They searched and about 10 minutes later, they had found about 15 of them.

Mr. Schue found a group of black dress slacks hanging together on a rack. “Kurt, look at these.”

“We could wear these with our blue shirts and black ties from Invitationals. Tina and I could probably make sashes for the dresses to match the shirts for under $15. That’s a whole lot less than one new dress. The question is whether we have any more of those blue shirts we wore at Invitationals. We need one for Azimio and one for Dave.”

“All of the blue shirts are hanging on a rack back here. They’re not marked anymore, but the ones I had cleaned are still in the bags from the cleaners.” Mr. Schue said. “Azimio and Dave, come over here and see if any of the ones hanging here look like they would fit. Grab any possibilities and take them in the dressing room and try them on and come out for Kurt or Tina to see.”

Dave and Azimio did what they were told. They found shirts that fit and hung them with the ones that had been to the cleaners.

“Let’s take all of these dresses and slacks to the choir room. We’ll have all of the girls and Kurt come in tomorrow at lunch and all of the guys come in on Wednesday. I know we have four weeks until Sectionals, but it may take Tina and Kurt a while to get stuff altered.”

Kurt said, “That’s fine. When football ends, I’d like some people to volunteer to stay after school and help organize all of this stuff. There are probably enough of other costumes that we could wear something different at Regionals, if we make it. And if there isn’t, Tina and I might at least find stuff to put different accents on the all black outfits. We also have our black Western shirts from Invitationals that we bought for ourselves. Dave and Azimio could order two more and we could put gold accents on the black dresses and the girls could wear gold headbands, if we can’t find any other dresses that work for all of the girls.”

“That’s a possibility as well. Let’s get this stuff to the choir room, so you all can leave on time.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Thursday afternoon, Mercedes got up and sang a show-stopping version of “I’m Telling You”. When she finished, everyone was on their feet applauding.

Kurt was the first to speak when the applause died down. “I vote that we don’t even bother to try to come up with something else because nothing is going to beat that.”

Mercedes looked embarrassed, but happy. Kurt winked at her.

“Mercedes, have a seat. Does anyone else have a number they want to share?”

No one spoke up.

“Well, then let’s move on to our group number. I want to go with ‘Somebody to Love’, but I have redone the vocals since Invitationals. We’ve gained two male voices and lost one of our female voices. Santana will sing lead with Finn. I’m also moving Kurt to sing second soprano with Tina. Azimio will be singing the tenor part that Kurt was singing, and Rachel will be taking Quinn’s part. I’ve added a lower part for Dave. It may be a strange arrangement and not what we will do in the future, but my goal was to move around as few of the singing parts as possible since everyone already knows this song.” Mr. Schue passed out the re-arranged version of the song. “Everyone rearrange so you’re sitting next to whoever is singing the same part as you.”

They sang through the song a few times.

“Alright, then. Moving on. We have completely rechoreographed the song to fit the new group dynamics. We will be going with a 4 – 5 – 4 layout on the risers. Four guys on the top row, the girls on the middle row, and four more guys on the floor. Next week I want to have a 30-minute rehearsal every morning before school. I know that’s asking a lot, but we really need to get our songs ready. We’ll be doing choreography work before school and working on our vocals after school. The following week, we’ll combine them. We have just a little over three weeks to be ready. That’s it for today.”

Mr. Schuester kept Rachel and Kurt back.

“Are you two okay with this?” he asked.

“I’ve never really sung alto before, but this particular part is not out of my range or anything,” Rachel said. “And Kurt and I can read music and learn the new parts faster.”

“I’m fine with it. We need to counterbalance so many lower voices. I get it.”

“Good. Thanks for being flexible about it. We can move forward as a group more quickly this way.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Friday night during the halftime show, Azimio pulled Puck to the side. “Dude, are you okay? You have dropped every pass or been in the wrong place on every play so far tonight.”

“I just don’t feel good. I’m sorry. I’ll try harder.”

“Have a Gatorade or I’ll send one of the freshmen to get you a Sprite or whatever, dude. Or take some Tylenol.”

“Yeah. Get one of them to bring me a Sprite. Come get me when the halftime show is over.” Puck walked away. He turned the cold water on and splashed it on his face.

Puck drank some of the Sprite and really tried to focus. The second half went better than the first half, but not well enough to pull the Titans ahead. They lost 24-14.

When the team got in the locker room some of the guys started hassling Puck. Azimio stepped in.

“Just shut the fuck up. He’s been sick for a week. He was sick last week. He’s doing his best. We don’t have a second-string halfback or running back. He showed up and he gave it his best. Leave him alone.”

The guys backed off and left him alone. Azimio sat down next to him on the bench.

He kept his voice down. “Dude, maybe you should go to the doctor or something. A week’s a long time to still be feeling sick. Maybe you need some medicine or something.”

“Yeah or something. Thanks for shutting them up.”

“No problem, dude. It’s not like you were fucking it up on purpose.”

Puck showered, redressed, and went out to his truck. He sent Paul a text.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Saturday morning Paul went into his office and met with Puck.

“I need help. I don’t know where to go.”

“Can you give me some kind of idea what you need help with?”

“I’ve screwed my whole life up. I need a job. If I tell you something, will you not tell anyone?”

“I won’t.”

“I clean pools in the summer.”

“You told me that before.”

“But that doesn’t pay much. It’s the extra services I provide that brings in the cash.”

Paul looked confused.

“Lonely housewives, home alone in the daytime…”

“Oh.”

“I had a huge crush on Quinn. God, she’s gorgeous. But she wanted Finn. He’s the quarterback. She flirted relentlessly until he finally figured out that she wanted him to ask her out. They had been dating for a while, but she wasn’t serious about him. I could just tell. There was nothing there but her wanting to be at the top on the arm of the top dog. They just walked around school holding hands. None of us were old enough to drive – you know to go out on real dates or something. She invited me over to her house when her parents weren’t home. It’s not like it was at some party where we were both smashed. I told her she wasn’t just another hook-up for me. I really liked her. I was gentle with her and made it good for her. I was stupid, but I thought once she saw how much I liked her that she’d call it off with Finn. But instead, she stuck with him. When she figured out that she was pregnant, she told him that he was the father. And he’s so stupid he believed her that them making out in a hot tub is how she got pregnant. I mean, knowing what I know now about her dad kicking her out because she’s pregnant. I can see how she would never pick me. I’m not good enough for her dad. But I still think she liked me. Or maybe she was just feeling really rebellious and wanted attention. I don’t know. But now she moved out of town and she’s putting my baby up for adoption and I have NO say in it whatsoever. I don’t even get a chance to see my baby ever. I know it’s a screwed up mess and I’m just a 16-year old Lima Loser, but I swore I would never be a deadbeat dad like my dad is. And she just walked out of here and got in a car and took my baby with her.”

Paul opened the website for the teen mother’s home that Quinn went to. He found a phone number on their website. He wrote it down on a piece of paper. “Call this number. It’s an 800-number so you can call it from any landline for free. It says it’s staffed until noon on Saturdays. You can call the number before you leave and see if they can suggest a place for you to get some help. Quinn is the one going through all the physical issues, but you both have emotional issues to deal with. I’m not the best person to help you with those because I’ve never been through what you’re going through, but if whoever answers when you call can’t help you, I will find someone who can.”

“Thanks. And I’ve been struggling for the last week because when we were here, Quinn told me to go to the free clinic, but wouldn’t really tell me why. I went after I left. I went back in on Tuesday at lunch to get my results and I have Chlamydia. I’m supposed to contact every sexual partner I’ve ever had since there’s no way to know when I contracted it because I’ve never been tested before. I can’t do that. I can’t even name all of the girls and women I’ve been with. And I’m just sick of myself. I can’t think of a damn thing I have to live for right now other than I don’t want to break my little sister’s heart by making her live with knowing that I killed myself. I started taking the antibiotics for the Chlamydia and they make me feel sick. We lost the game last night because I couldn’t do my damn job to catch a fucking football because my stomach was in knots from those antibiotics. I have five more days of taking them. At least I’ll be off them by the time we play next Friday.”

“What are you going to do about informing people?”

“I don’t know what to do. I can’t tank my rep at school by telling people that I have an STD. That’s social suicide, but I also can’t just not tell them. I’m done with the pool service though. I need a real job, but no one is hiring. I’ve already tried. Finn tried too because Quinn told him that she needed money for the doctor’s bills before she decided to put the baby up for adoption. He couldn’t find a job either and everyone likes Finn. So, it’s not just me. But I’ve got to do something. I’m driving with no insurance. I have enough money to put gas in my truck a couple more times and that’s it.”

“I’ll ask around. I’ll let you know if I can find anyone hiring. You don’t have a record do you?”

“No. I’ll even stop drinking. I quit pot before I started looking for a job since I figured I’d get drug tested.”

“Good. Drinking isn’t good for you. And becoming an alcoholic at your age would pretty much doom you to a miserable life. And you’re obviously trying to come up with ways to prevent that.”

“Yeah. I’ll be avoiding girls and alcohol. There’s just one more game, unless we advance to the playoffs. So, in a couple of weeks, I’ll just have Glee on Mondays and Thursdays after school for an hour.”

“Okay. How are your grades?”

“They’re actually decent. Well, I mean I get B’s and C’s. If I tried, I could do better. I get mostly A’s on the tests, but I don’t do my homework most of the time. It’s just dumb. If I can make A’s on the tests without doing it, then I’m just doing busy work, not learning something.”

“I get that you feel that way about it, but what you’re doing is securing an A for the class. Think about this. I’m a lawyer. I go to court and I prove my client is not guilty. The jury finds my client not guilty. So, in school terms, as a lawyer I get an A.”

“Okay.”

“But if I don’t fill out and file all of the right paperwork exactly correctly, then my client could end up in jail anyway because I didn’t do the homework part of my job. Not everything is about the final outcome. A lot of things are about the process between the beginning and the end.”

“No one’s ever explained anything that way.”

“There are lots of examples. Accountants are good at math and I’m sure that most of them can do a single person’s taxes without even looking at the form. But their job is to fill the form out correctly and they sign their name to the bottom of the tax forms they prepare. If they do them wrong, they could lose their licenses. Doing the grunt work is part of the job in a lot of fields. Think about scientists. They test hypotheses daily. If they don’t keep track of every detail of what they did, when they find a solution, they won’t be able to replicate the process.”

“I get it. I wish someone had just explained that from the very beginning. All of the teachers make it out like doing the homework will help us learn what we need to know for the tests. You know, they never actually tell us what adults do at their jobs. My ma – the only thing she’s ever done is wait tables. I don’t know any other adults well enough to know what they do. How are kids supposed to know that doing the homework is actually just practice for doing the grunt part of an adult job?”

“That’s a good point. The teachers should do a better job explaining the purpose of homework, especially starting in middle school.”

“I’ll start doing mine. I need to go to college or learn to do something so I can move in with my nana or near her and help take care of my sister when I graduate. My nana’s nearly 60. She’s gonna want to retire at some point and my sister’s only 8. She’s got another 10 years before she’s old enough to move out.”

“I’ll see if I can set up a tour at Lima Community College for the football team when football season ends. Maybe we can set up some testing and those of you who aren’t really interested in a four-year college degree could find something you can learn to do in a two-year program.”

“Testing?”

“Yeah. To see what you’re good at. To see what might interest you.”

“Oh, cool. I didn’t know there were tests like that.”

“It seems like the list of things you don’t know about is way too long. And that’s not an insult. You’re barely more than a kid. The school should be doing a better job. How could you not know about using condoms?”

“I knew. I just didn’t have the money to buy them and no one at the school told us about the free clinic in town. We just got the typical ‘don’t have sex’ lecture and we moved on to the next lesson in our health books. Some of my pool clients had them or they were on the pill or both. The girls were on the pill, mostly.”

“When did you turn 16?”

“At the beginning of September. I paid for my truck and a month’s insurance so I could get it licensed. I was hoping to find a real job, but when I didn’t, I couldn’t pay the insurance for October.”

“You realize that every pool client you slept with committed a felony and could spend significant time in jail for statutory rape, and could be required to register as a sex offender, right?”

“I wasn’t raped. It was consensual.”

“Not by the law in Ohio. Anyone under the age of 16 engaging in sex with someone over 18 is against the law. The age of consent in Ohio is 16. That means that anyone who is not yet 16 does not have the legal ability to consent. Every one of those women by definition is a rapist. They were the adults in the situation. It was their responsibility to behave according to the law.”

“I didn’t know.”

“I believe you. But I’m pretty sure that most of those women knew. They took advantage of you Puck. But I’m also pretty sure that even if they didn’t know that having sex with you was illegal, they still knew that underage prostitution was illegal. I can understand you not wanting to press the issue and file any charges since you feel like it was completely consensual. But should you decide to give up your current celibacy decision, stick to high school age girls until you turn 18. And then don’t sleep with girls who aren’t already 16. Ask around to make sure when their birthdays are before you sleep with them.”

“I get it. I’ll kick the football team’s asses into going to the community college thing, if you set it up.”

“I’ll see what I can do. If they won’t do a whole group, I’ll take you, Dave, Azimio, and Kurt. If you find it helpful, you can talk up the idea to the other guys.”

“Okay.”

“Are you okay with Dave and Kurt being a couple? Do you have issues with them being gay?”

“I kind of did at first because it just didn’t seem right that Dave could be gay. I mean Hummel, yeah. He’s like obvious and I guess I just saw all gay guys as being like him. You know, like Hummel would grow up to be like Sandy Ryerson. But I guess when I saw that Dave didn’t suddenly start being someone different – like he wasn’t hiding some secret love of show tunes and fashion. He was still just Karofsky, like he always had been. Hummel’s actually changed more than Dave has. He’s playing football. He played _Halo_ against me and Azimio last weekend. He’s more calm. That’s probably because he’s not as scared. God, I treated him awful. I never beat him up or anything, but I dumpster tossed him several times a week. Swirlies and slushes. It was just stupid and made me feel like I was tough. But he never put up a fight. He smart-mouthed us sometimes. But anyway, I guess finding out that Dave was gay made it less girly, if that makes any sense. He’s a manly as you can get as a 16-year old and yet he’s into dudes. Maybe this sounds bad, but I guess I had a dumb idea that gay guys were like girls in a guy’s body.”

“That’s called transgender – when someone’s outward appearance doesn’t match with the gender they feel like they are on the inside. And that’s not the same as a crossdresser. When Dave told me he was gay, I did a lot of research online. I’ll give you some websites to look at. Maybe if you understand it better, you can help Dave and Kurt by pointing other people in the right direction to find information too. McKinley does a terrible job educating its students on sexuality and gender.”

“Obviously. But I think for some of the guys finding out that Dave was gay had the opposite effect. They don’t dislike him for it, exactly. But it makes them nervous. Like I said Hummel was obvious and the guys could stay dressed when he was around, but if guys like Dave can be gay too, then they feel like there are other guys who might be gay, but blend in like Dave and that those closeted gay guys are perving on them in the locker rooms.”

“Dave mentioned that he thought putting doors on the end of the showers would be a good idea.”

“I agree. I don’t think most of the guys feel all that comfortable with the open showers.”

“That issue needs addressed soon. I’ll work on that. Dave says that it’s you and Azimio that have turned the team into a winning team. You’re doing a good job.”

“Thanks. That’s something I think I’d like to do, but I don’t know what is required to get to that point. A sports trainer would be an awesome job to have.”

“Well, then let’s start with that. I’ll give you homework.”

Puck rolled his eyes. “Just what I need – more homework.”

Paul slid a piece of paper across his desk. “That has a list of a few websites for you to look at to help you understand sexuality and gender a little better. I’m going to let you call that 800 number from the receptionist’s phone. Why don’t you go do that before the staff person at the center leaves. I’ll be in here doing my homework.”

Puck laughed. “Thanks for talking to me. Having no reliable parents sucks.”

“It does. Go call.”

Puck got up and went out to the waiting area and used the phone.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt and Dave had talked about where to hand out candy. They decided on doing it at Dave’s house since he lived in a more upscale neighborhood and tended to get a lot of trick-or-treaters. Paul had left earlier that morning and Kurt and Dave spent the morning baking and decorating Halloween cookies, cupcakes, and brownies.

“So, what do you want to make for dinner? My dad hasn’t been shopping yet. We can pick something for him to bring home to cook or we can order pizza or take-out.”

“How about something simple? A roast with carrots and potatoes?”

“Sounds good.”

“We could make spiced cider and sliced caramel apples for dessert.”

“Mmm.” Dave kissed the back of Kurt’s neck instead of helping him frost the cookies.

“You’re distracting me.”

“Mmm hmm.” He didn’t stop the kisses.

Kurt turned toward him and Dave took the opportunity to pick Kurt up and sit him on the counter. He stood between Kurt’s knees and kissed him. Kurt wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck and held him close.

“You are so hot.” Dave pressed in and deepened the kiss. “So gorgeous.”

Their make out session was interrupted about five minutes later when the oven timer beeped to take out the last batch of cookies. Dave stepped back and pulled the cookie sheet out and put it on top of the stove to cool. He turned the oven off and turned back to Kurt who was just sitting there smiling at him.

“You’re becoming quite domestic these days, Mr. Karofsky.”

He slid back into the spot he had been standing in. “That would be your doing, Mr. Hummel.”

“It’s very sexy.”

“Oh really?”

“Definitely.”

Dave flexed his arms.

“Sexy chef. Very hot.” Kurt reached out and ran his hands over Dave’s biceps.

Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt and went back to kissing him.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Burt answered his cell phone.

“Burt?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s Paul.”

“Something wrong with Kurt?”

“Nope. They’re home baking cookies.”

Burt laughed.

“Puck’s here at my office and his truck sounds awful. He needs a job. I can’t betray his trust, but it’s a dire issue. You wouldn’t happen to have a position available at the shop or know someone hiring part time would you?”

“Well, I have this one kid who comes in on Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays. He’s supposed to clean and do inventory and stuff, but I keep finding him playing games on his phone or texting people. I’ve warned him several times. I need to replace him. He works 10 hours a week.”

“Sounds like a good start. If I bring Puck over, will you fix his truck so it’s not a death trap? I’ll pay for the parts as long as it’s not more than a couple hundred dollars.”

“Yeah, sure. Kurt said he apologized. It’s a start. Someone’s gotta give the kid a break and a chance to grow up, right?”

“We’ll be over as soon as I’m done talking to him.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Dave…”

“Mmm hmm.”

Kurt pulled back as much as he could. He ran his hand down Dave’s cheek. “As much as I’m enjoying this, we need to frost the rest of the cookies now. It was your idea to sell the cookies to boost my income. If Azimio shows up to pick the cookies up and they aren’t ready, that’s not going to be good.”

“You’re right. The rest are cooled now. Let’s finish.”

They finished putting the orange glaze on the chocolate cookies. The sugar cookies were already done. Once they finished the cookies, they moved on to cutting the brownies into squares and frosting them. Azimio had asked for orange frosting with chocolate sprinkles.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Puck knocked as he opened the door to Paul’s office.

“It’s fine. Come in.”

“So, the girl gave me another number to call. I’ll call it later. I just wanted to say thanks before I go.”

“Don’t leave. I need to ask you something.”

Puck sat down.

“I need to know whether you were sincere about what you said. About Kurt, and Dave in a way. Can you be around them and treat them like regular normal guys? No fag jokes, no sexual innuendos? From what you’ve said, you’ve been sexually active for a long time and I know enough about you to know that you talk about sex a lot. Can you be around two teens who aren’t going to find that type of talk comfortable?”

“Yeah, I guess. Why is Hummel so uptight about it? Do you know?”

“He’s never said anything to me, but think about it, Puck. No one ever discusses gay sex like it’s a good thing. Everyone acts like it’s the most disgusting thing on the planet. He’s been called every derogatory gay word since before he even knew what the words meant. Just try to imagine if EVERYTHING about sex had been presented like it was awful. If everyone told you that touching a girl was disgusting. That wanting to touch her boobs was disgusting. That wanting to touch her other places was disgusting and that you were going to burn in hell for wanting to do those things.”

“I never thought about it that way.”

“And then think about how badly you want to do those things… you’re a teen guy. He’s a teen guy. His sex drive is no different than yours, but he gets told from every side that his sex drive is wrong. That it’s sinful. That he’ll burn in hell if he acts on it. It makes the whole thing very emotionally complicated. And add to it that Kurt didn’t find out that Dave was gay until a few days before you did. He’s not going to trust easily. He’s not going to just jump into anything. And then think about Dave who tried to deny it for years. He didn’t want to be gay. So, it’s been hard for him even though he wasn’t bullied because his mom brought him up to believe all of those things about gay people.”

“That makes sense I guess, but why are you asking me about whether I can be around them and not act like a jackass? I haven’t been hassling them.”

“I know. But I found someone willing to give you a job.”

“That was fast.”

“Burt Hummel needs someone to replace someone who hasn’t been doing his job. It’s 10 hours a week, but it’s a start. If you do a good job, you might be able to work up to actually learning how to fix cars. But you can’t tease Kurt or make Kurt uncomfortable. That shop is Kurt’s home away from home. Kurt is a kickass mechanic and Burt doesn’t need someone in there distracting or annoying Kurt. I’m not even sure you’d be working at the same time, but if you do, you’d have to be professional. Kurt would be way above you in rank. From my understanding, he can rebuild an engine like putting together a kiddie puzzle.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“I’m sure most people don’t. The question is whether you can drop the badass attitude and do what a prissy gay boy tells you to do without mouthing off.”

“I think he’s less prissy than we all think he is.”

“That may be true, but you didn’t answer me about the attitude issue. Burt’s willing to take a chance on you and you’ve been a jackass to his only kid for years.”

“I get it. I can do it. I need a job. I can’t lose my license. I’ll turn off the badass and do whatever I’m told for 10 hours a week.”

“Alright, then. Let’s go over there and get this settled.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt looked at the table at all of the boxes with the lids off. “That’s 3 dozen rice crispy treats drizzled with chocolate and orange frosting, 3 dozen brownies with orange frosting and chocolate sprinkles, 3 dozen chocolate cookies with orange glaze, 3 dozen sugar cookies with chocolate glaze, 3 dozen chocolate chip cookies, 3 dozen vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting and orange sprinkles, and 3 dozen carrot cake cupcakes with vanilla frosting and orange sprinkles. How many kids are they expecting at this party anyway?”

“About a hundred from what Azimio said, plus the adults.”

“Well, let’s get the lids on the boxes, so they’re ready to go. Azimio should be here soon.”

Before they got all the lids on, the doorbell rang. Dave went and let Azimio in.

“We’re just finishing up.”

Azimio followed Dave into the dining room carrying two rectangular laundry baskets. “Damn, those look good. Got any extras?”

“I’m sorry to say that we don’t,” Kurt said.

“I’m going to have to break down and get you to make me some stuff.” He pulled his wallet out and handed Kurt a stack of $20 bills. “Thanks for doing this. Last year, my momma had people sign up to make the stuff for the party, but a bunch of people brought stuff that wasn’t that great and a lot of the kids tossed the stuff in the trash after one bite. She got people to donate money this year, $5 a piece instead of asking them to bake something. No one seemed to mind, I guess. She said a lot of them looked relieved,” he laughed. “So, my momma sent these laundry baskets to stack the boxes in.”

The three of them carefully stacked the boxes in the baskets. Dave picked up one of the baskets and Azimio grabbed the other. Kurt opened the door and let them out and then opened Azimio’s passenger door and held it open. Dave slid his basket onto the seat.

“Turn it the other way. I need to sit this one up there too. My momma said to use the seatbelts through the basket slits to keep them from slipping around while I’m driving.”

Dave put the center seatbelt trough the basket and tightened it. “Your mom thinks of everything, Z.”

Azimio put his basket in next and did the same thing. He laughed. “Yeah. She’s all about the details. Trust me.”

Kurt shut the door. “I hope everyone likes the stuff,” Kurt said.

“How could they not?” Azimio mock punched him. “I gotta go, dudes. The party starts at 4:00 and I gotta go help finishing setting everything up.”

“See ya,” Dave said as he and Kurt went back in.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Burt was leaned over Puck’s truck looking at the engine. “Half of me wants to tell you to take a hike because you were a jackass to my kid.”

Puck nodded.

“The other half wants to give you a chance. And since Kurt is giving you a chance, I’m going to lean toward my benevolent half. But don’t give me a reason to change my mind. You show up on time, you don’t horse around on your phone, you do your job, and you leave when your shift is over, not early. Your friends don’t come here and hang out with you while you work. I’m paying you to do your job, not to socialize. If your friends bring their cars here to get them worked on, have them sit in the waiting room like the rest of the customers. I can’t have customers in the work bays. Even when Dave brings Kurt here to work, Dave sits in the employee lounge and does his homework and leaves Kurt alone to do his job. I don’t pay Kurt to goof around either.”

“I got it.”

“I need someone to work 4:00-7:00 Mondays and Fridays and I need someone to work 8:00-noon on Saturdays. That’s all I’ve got open. Until football season ends, I know you can’t come in on Fridays. Don’t come in on Saturday mornings hung over or I’ll send you home with no pay. You do it twice and I’ll have to let you go.”

“I’ll show up on time.”

“You prove yourself and I’ll see what I can do about training you, but those hours will be unpaid.   So, maybe on a Saturday afternoon or during the week in the evenings, but if you’re interested and you learn, you could eventually make more money and get more hours.”

“Sounds good to me. Right now, I really just want to be able to pay my insurance and for gas in my truck. I can keep looking for another part time job too, on the days I don’t work here.”

Burt walked away and came back with some bottles of oil, an air filter, some coolant, brake fluid, and some spark plugs. “I hate the mohawk. It makes you look like a punk, but I understand that teens want to be unique or edgy or whatever. But keep it short and make sure you come to work looking like you’re working. You’ll need some work pants. I probably have a pair at home you can wear. Just bring a belt in case they’re loose. Be here Monday at 4:00.”

“I will.”

“You need a new exhaust pipe. I’ll put it on while you’re working Monday.”

“I can’t afford all of that stuff you’re putting in my truck.”

“I know, kid. You can work that out with Paul.”

Puck nodded. “Thanks for fixing it up. I bought it because it ran and the dude only wanted $500 for it. I know it’s mostly a piece of junk.”

“Actually, the body’s in decent shape even though the paint is peeling. You could buff it out yourself once I teach you how to use the tools. I won’t pay you to work on your own truck, but I’ll teach you how if you want to learn. You can come in on other evenings and work on it as long as there’s an empty bay. I don’t really see anything wrong with it that’s going to cost a lot to fix as far as the parts go, but some of it is expensive because it’s so labor intensive to do. So, we’ll work out a deal of some sort. I’ll get you the parts at cost and you can spend the hours it will take to put them on.”

“Thanks.” Puck looked down at his feet and took a deep breath. “Look I know that I’ve been nothing but a jackass to Kurt. I already apologized to him. But I’ll tell you too. I’m sorry about that. There’s no excuse except just being mean. I told him the truth. I’ll tell you. I was jealous.”

“I get that, kid. But taking your problems out on other people isn’t the solution. I think you’re starting to see that and I’m going to give you a chance. Right now, the hours you’ll be working isn’t when Kurt will be here. Once you’re ready to start working on your truck on your own, you may end up here when he is. You’ll be respectful. That kid could easily take your truck apart and put it back together by himself. He’s a damn good mechanic and I won’t have you acting like he’s dirt.”

“Got it. I’m done with that. I’ve screwed so many things up. I … I just gotta change.”

“Good. Like I said, I’ll bring some work pants. Bring a belt in case they’re too loose. I’ll have Kurt take them up so they fit right if they are. You’ll wear them so they fit right and I’ll grab you a shirt from the back and you’ll wear it tucked in with a belt. After you’ve been here a month, I’ll get a patch with your name sewn on it for you to put on your shirt.”

Puck nodded. “Thank you… for giving me a chance.”

“Don’t blow it.” Burt wiped a couple of things down and shut the hood on Puck’s truck. “Monday at 4:00.”

“I’ll be here.”

Burt jumped in the cab, drove the truck back out to the lot, and then went to the back to get Puck’s shirt.

“He’s pretty scary.”

Paul laughed. “Nah. He just loves Kurt. He’s all Burt has and you made the only person in the world he gave a damn about miserable. Think about how you’d feel about someone who treated your sister the way you’ve treated Kurt.”

“Yeah. I would give them a beat down, not a job.”

Burt walked back in and handed Puck his keys and a shirt.

Puck took them, thanked Burt again, and left.

“You want to come over for dinner? Kurt and Dave turned my kitchen and dining room into a bakery last night. But Azimio will have come to pick it all up by now.”

“Yeah, sure. Thanks. I’ll go home and shower once I’m done here and I’ll head over. You want me to bring anything?”

“Kurt’s cooking, so I don’t think we’ll need any food. He’s supposed to text me a shopping list.”

“Alright then. I’ll be over later.”

“Don’t forget all the little kids will be out between 5:00-7:00.”

“I forgot about that. I’ll get over there before 5:00. Thanks for the reminder.”

“Kurt’s got Dave dressing up to hand out candy. I had to keep myself from laughing. He’s got Dave baking like Betty Crocker and dressing up. Dave even asked me if I’d let Kurt take him shopping for new winter clothes. He says he doesn’t just want to wear polos with his letterman jacket all winter again.”

Burt laughed and shook his head. “He’s a lot braver than me. Clothes shopping with Kurt on purpose? That takes courage.”

“I think part of it is also that all of the clothes in his closet were things that his mom bought him. He never had any interest in fashion or shopping so she just bought stuff and he wore it because he didn’t care. But now he does want to look nice for Kurt, but I honestly think that he mostly just wants to actually choose what he wears and I think he wants to get rid of the polos because they remind him of his mom every single day of his life.”

“Give him the money. Kurt’s good at finding bargains. They’ll have fun and maybe Dave won’t feel her constant presence. I mean I understand what he’s going through. I do it on purpose though. There are clothes I own that Liz got me that I still have, even though they don’t fit now. Sometimes I just touch them as stupid as that sounds. They bring back memories. And if Dave’s feeling that, but in a way that hurts, then I can see why he’d want different clothes.”

“You’ve convinced me. I’ll let them go out tomorrow.”

“Just wait until you hear Kurt squeal when you mention a shopping trip.”

Paul laughed. “I’ll see you later. My phone just buzzed with the shopping list. I better get on that or I might mess up the master chef’s plans for whatever we’re having for dinner.”

“Yeah, you do that.” Burt laughed. “I’ll be over later.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Well, boys that was really tasty,” Burt said.

“Thank you, but don’t get up. We made dessert.” Kurt got up to go get it.

Dave picked up everyone’s dinner plates and took them to the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher. He picked up two of the bowls and carried them to the dining room, following behind Kurt.

“Here you go. Sliced caramel apples.”

“That’s a good idea,” Paul said. “All of the taste, none of the mess.”

After they finished eating, Paul pulled Dave aside while Kurt was loading the dessert dishes in the dishwasher. When they were finished, Dave went back to the kitchen, but Kurt was gone and the dishwasher was already running. He looked around the corner into the living room, but he wasn’t there. He went upstairs and he could hear the shower running. He sat in the chair by the window and picked up the book he had been reading and waited for Kurt to come out.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt came out of the bathroom wearing pajamas.

“You’re expecting your dad to let you stay again?”

“Yep.” Kurt walked around the end of Dave’s bed and sat in his lap. He leaned down and kissed him. “You can shower and we can read together in bed.”

“I have something more exciting in mind, but I’ll shower first and then I’ll tell you.”

Kurt play pouted.

“None of that, gorgeous.” He pulled Kurt towards him and kissed him. “Hop up so I can shower.”

Kurt stood up, and then plopped right into the chair. He started reading the book that Dave had been reading. It wasn’t long before Dave was back out of the shower and standing in front of him.

“Up, please.” He reached out for Kurt’s hands and pulled him to standing. He looked to his right and down at the floor.

Kurt laughed and stepped up on the kissing step. He wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck and kissed him. “Are you going to tell me now?”

“Yes.” He wrapped his arms around Kurt and enjoyed holding Kurt for a few minutes. He loosened his hold and took Kurt’s hand and led him over to his closet. He opened the closet doors. “My dad approved the request I made for a new winter wardrobe.”

Kurt squealed. “Really?” He jumped up and threw his arms around Dave’s neck.

“Really. So, tomorrow morning, we’re going shopping. You said you know all of the best places to go, so time to plan. I’ve been looking at clothes online. Don’t laugh.”

“I’m not laughing. I promise. What did you learn while window shopping online?”

“That I am not going to like wearing the kind of clothes that you wear.”

“I know. I was thinking sporty stuff. Hoodies, henleys, and maybe some tasteful flannels.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’m not trying to turn you into a clone of me. We talked about that, remember? I told you that I haven’t even quite figured out my own style yet. I keep trying different things. But you will totally rock the sporty, casual look. We’ll go to the American Eagle outlet and some other outlet places. We are making a day of this, right? Or are we just going some place in town like Target or Kohl’s or something?”

“We’ll go to Columbus.”

Kurt had a huge smile on his face, then it dropped. “You’re not doing this for me are you?”

“No. I’m doing it for me. I told you that I always just wore what my mom bought. I didn’t care. I wasn’t happy then. Now, I care. I don’t want to be a fashion model. I just want to wear things I like.”

“Okay. So, now what?”

“Now, I pull out everything that I don’t really like.”

“You should get a laundry basket out and fold up what you don’t want. We could stop by a resale shop. We can try to sell the stuff and use the money towards things you do want.”

“Okay. How about I sort and you fold?”

“Works for me.”

An hour later, Kurt had to start stacking the clothes on Dave’s bed because the laundry basket was already full. Dave left and came back with another one. They finished everything hanging in the closet and Dave pulled out the boxes that were stacked. He opened them up and went through them to see if there was anything that might be resale material. He pulled out a Cincinnati Bengals hoodie and held it up.

“I loved this thing. My mom really didn’t like me wearing sporty clothes. She said I never looked like I was dressed to leave the house. But my dad bought me the hoodie for my birthday when I was 12. It was big on me then, but I loved it. I wore it until it didn’t fit anymore.”

“Can I?” Kurt put his hand out.

Dave handed it to him. Kurt slipped it on. It fit him just right.

Kurt bit his lower lip. “Can I have it?”

“Of course. I’m surprised that you would wear it.”

“It’s soft and comfortable. It’s going to get chilly soon. I can wear it and keep warm when I’m in my pajamas.”

Dave leaned down and kissed him. “You’re adorable. It’s yours now.” He went back to sorting stuff. “I’ll keep the boots you wore to help me with the yard work too. Here, try these.” He handed Kurt a pair of jeans and turned around giving Kurt a chance to try them on.

“Well, they’re definitely not my usual style, but if they’re to do something messy in, they fit well enough.” He took them off and put the pajama pants back on.

Dave turned around and took the jeans and put them on the shelf in his closet. He closed up the donation boxes. They took the boxes and the laundry baskets down to the Navigator and put them in the back. When they came back inside, they went in the den to see what their dads were watching. Burt looked at him strangely when he came in wearing the hoodie.

“So, you’re finally going to be a sports fan and you take up supporting the Bengals?”

Kurt looked confused.

Dave laughed. “I take it you’re a Browns fan.”

“I take it you’re the one poisoning his mind with the idea to support the Bengals.”

“I’ll settle this,” Kurt said. “I’m a fan of super soft cozy hoodies to wear around the house when it’s chilly out. Huge fan. Majorly huge fan.”

Burt laughed. “Of course you are.”

“I’ll even go so far as to say I’m a huge fan of snuggling with people who are watching Bengals games while I wear the Bengals hoodie.”

Burt rolled his eyes. “Fine. Wear the hoodie of my favorite team’s rival. And don’t think I didn’t notice that you’re already dressed to go to bed. Is that your way of asking if you can stay?”

Kurt batted his eyelashes like a small child.

“You’re something, you know it?”

“Does that mean yes?”

“Fine.”

“Thank you. We’re going shopping tomorrow.”

“I know. I heard the squealing from down here.”

“We pulled everything out of my closet that I’m not keeping. Kurt said there are shops in Columbus where we might be able to sell it. We’re going to see.”

“So, you’re going to Columbus?” Paul asked.

“That’s okay, right?” Dave asked. “We’re going to make a day of it and have fun.”

“Sure. Go have fun.”

“Thanks. We’re going to head back upstairs. ‘Night.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Burt was curious what the two of them were up to in Dave’s room, so he went upstairs quietly to see before he left for the evening. He got upstairs and the door was partially open and he looked in and saw them both lying in Dave’s bed reading books. He knocked lightly on the door.

Kurt said, “Oh, hey Dad. Did you need us for something?”

“Nope. I was just going to tell you that I’m leaving. You’re not going off shopping with homework left to do are you?”

“Actually we didn’t have much this weekend. We did most of it in between baking things Friday evening. I have one set of Algebra problems to do and that’s it. I can get it done while we wait at the resale shop tomorrow while they sort through the clothes.”

“What about you Dave?”

“I have some pre-calc problems and a little bit of physics reading to do, but I’m going to get that out in a few minutes and it. I have like 10 pages left in the book I’ve been reading.”

“Sounds good. Be careful tomorrow. That’s a lot of driving. You have full coverage on your Navigator, Kurt. If you get tired, let Dave drive for a while.”

“Okay. We’ll be careful.”

“Well, I’ll let you get back to the end of your reading.”

“See you tomorrow, Dad.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Burt went back into the den when he got downstairs.

“They’re upstairs reading books. They’re the weirdest teen boys I’ve ever known.”

Paul laughed. “Would you rather go up there and find them making out in the bed?”

“I’m not sure. I mean I’m sure that I wouldn’t, but it seems like it might be a little more normal.”

“They were both really lonely, Burt. Dave was hiding who he was from the people he hung around with. You said that Kurt didn’t have any friends. You said he just started being friendly with some of the Glee kids this year. Dave and I have talked. He says that Kurt’s not interested in anything beyond kissing and snuggling.”

“And he’s okay with that?”

“He’s had a crush on Kurt for a year. He’d probably have agreed to date him if Kurt had only been willing to hold hands with him. He’s crazy about Kurt.”

“I guess I just look back to being a teen and it was always the girl putting a damper on the … and I guess I just figured that with two guys they would jump right into … more than kissing.”

“I asked Dave and he says he’s fine. He’s a little nervous about all of it because it’s all new to him and they both have issues of their own. Who knows whether it will ever progress past where they are now. Two years from now, they both might meet someone else. I don’t want either of them hurt, but I didn’t marry the first girl I dated.”

“Neither did I, but some people do.”

“I think them becoming friends and the fact that they can just be themselves with each other rather than trying to be what the other wants is a good sign. Dave wants new clothes for himself, not to make Kurt like him more. Kurt is wearing Dave’s old hoodie because it’s comfortable and I can tell that he’s relaxed here. He lets Dave see him with wet hair out of the shower and in pajamas. He doesn’t just have Dave pick him up or pick Dave up when he’s all dressed up to the nines. Has anyone besides you ever seen him like that?”

“You’re right. Whenever he had the girls over earlier this year, he was always in his _Vogue_ mode. You know, all dressed up looking like he’s headed out on the runway. He had them sleepover and he wore these fancy silk pajamas he has that have long sleeves and buttons, like those old fashioned ones you see in the black and white movies. He didn’t wear his regular pajamas. It was like he was dressed up, even to sleep.”

“I think it’s good. They spend a lot of time together and they’re learning about each other and doing things like baking and playing games. And you said they’re up there reading books right now. It’s like Dave is being himself, but with someone.”

“Yeah. It’s just not what I expected, but better I think. I’m going to head out. Thanks for dinner and hosting Kurt again.”

“Not a problem.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Done.”

“Almost. Two problems left.” Dave worked through them and double-checked them. “Finally.”

“Let’s go back inside. I know they’re probably not done yet, but we can look through what they have and see if there’s anything you like.”

“I haven’t gotten used to seeing you in a letterman jacket yet.”

“Me neither. But I’m giving it a try.”

They walked to the shirts and started looking through them. Dave went to the pullover hoodies and Kurt looked through the long-sleeved shirts to see what he could find. He pulled out a few things and went to where Dave was.

“Are these the types of shirts you were thinking of?”

“I like the dark red one.” He looked through them. “Maybe this flannel. I’ll try it on and see. I like this dark green hoodie. Let’s go get a dressing room.”

“Are you looking for any new pants?”

“Maybe. I don’t want really tight ones, but maybe a couple of pairs of straight fit like the ones we got when we went shopping before.”

“Alright. You go try on the shirts and I’ll go look through the jeans.” Kurt found two pairs that might work and went to the fitting rooms. “Dave?”

“Yeah? I’m here.” He opened the door and he had the maroon henley on. “What do you think?”

“If you like it, you should get it. I found two possibilities.” He handed the jeans to Dave.

“When I ask, ‘What do you think?’ I want to know if it fits right. You said my other shirts didn’t seem to be the right size. I like the shirt, but does it fit right?”

“Turn.”

Dave turned around slowly.

“Yeah. It looks good.” He winked at Dave.

Dave smiled and blushed. He stepped back in the fitting room and tried the jeans on. He opened the door again a few minutes later. “The first pair just didn’t feel right. What about these?”

“Turn.”

“Those fit good. I like the dark wash. What do you think?”

“I like them I think. I’m going to put the green hoodie on with them just to be certain.” He opened the door a couple of minutes later.

“I like the hoodie. It’s not sloppy, but it looks comfortable.”

“The flannel one I liked – the sleeves were too short. I’m going to get the hoodie, the dark red shirt, and these jeans.”

“I’m going to go check the list to see if they’re done with your stuff yet. Come up front after you redress.” Kurt walked up to the front and saw that Dave’s name was up. He looked through the boots while he waited for Dave. He found a nice pair of brown boots that weren’t exactly construction boots, but they were similarly styled, but in a really dark brown.

“Those are nice.”

“Do you like them? I thought they might be nice for you for this winter. I saw you have yard work boots and some hiking boots, but these are kind of dressy in a really not dressy way. I know that makes no sense.”

“I think I get it. They’re really simple and they don’t look sporty like hiking boots, but they’re dark so they don’t look like I’m a construction worker boots. They’d look good with both of these shirts and these jeans instead of sneakers, right?”

“They would.”

“Here let me go try them.” He took the boots and went back to the fitting room since he didn’t see any chairs. He slipped them both on and walked around. “I like them.”

“Your stuff’s done, by the way.”

“Good. Let’s go see what they’ll offer and hopefully it will cover this stuff.” He put his running shoes back on. He got in line while Kurt looked through the hats.

Kurt got in line behind Dave. “I found the perfect hat.”

Dave looked at it and laughed. “Are you getting that for your dad?”

“Definitely. It will be a great Christmas gift. He’ll laugh.”

Dave got up to the register and walked away with about $40 plus the clothes he had picked out. Kurt paid for the hat and they took the few items that weren’t purchased and headed out.

“So, where are we going next?”

“Well, I found two places that sound promising for lunch. One says authentic Mexican food, which I’ve never had. And one is a Chinese place with good reviews.”

“I’ve never been to an authentic Mexican place either. Let’s try that.”

Dave gave Kurt directions. They found it easily. They parked, went inside, and waited to be seated.

“I like the décor. It’s very festive.”

“It’s definitely bright.”

They were seated quickly. They looked through their menus and ordered as soon as the server came. They snacked on some chips and salsa while they waited for their food, which arrived surprisingly quickly given how busy the restaurant was. They ate and talked about what else Dave wanted to get so Kurt would have an idea of which stores to take him to.

“So, you’d like some more solid colored hoodies? I know just the place. We can get the waffle weave shirts at American Eagle and maybe henleys there or at H&M where we can get the hoodies. We can go to one of the sporty stores like Under Armour or Nike, but the hoodies there will be a lot more expensive because of the logos.”

“I don’t care about the logos really.”

“We’ll go to H&M first.”

“You’re the boss.”

They finished eating, paid their bills, and left. Dave reached for Kurt’s hand and held it. Kurt smiled. When they got in the Navigator, Kurt turned the CD player on.

“Sing for me?”

Dave sang along with Michael Bublé. Kurt found a spot near H&M and they went inside. They headed straight to the men’s department. Dave found a hoodie he liked and picked three different colors. They found the henleys and Dave grabbed three dark colored ones. They started to head to the fitting room, but Kurt noticed the waffle weave shirts. Dave picked three. He went in the fitting room. Kurt changed the size on the waffle weave shirts and Dave retried one.   He came out a few minutes later, redressed carrying all of the shirts. They headed to the register.

“Do you have a winter coat besides your letterman jacket?”

“I have a dress coat that still fits I think. But I don’t wear it much. It’s dry clean only and doesn’t seem very practical.”

“There’s a Columbia store here. You could probably get a nice warm coat there that’s more practical.”

“We can go look. We found everything I wanted except some flannels in one place. So, we have plenty of time.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They stopped in American Eagle and Dave found another waffle weave shirt he liked in deep blue. He also found three flannels he liked. From there, they went to the Columbia store.

“I’m not sure that I like the way these look on me.”

“I think you’re just used to seeing yourself in you letterman jacket, but if you don’t like any of these, then you don’t have to get one.”

“Let’s just look around a little more. I think it’s mostly that I just don’t really like the bright colors more than not liking the style.”

“This one is burgundy and it also comes in a deep forest green.”

Dave tried them both on. “I like the green one more than any of the others we’ve seen.”

“Then get that one if you like it. We can go look somewhere else if you want.”

“Nah. The green one’s good.”

“Do you need a hat or gloves?”

“Nope.” He started walking toward the cash register. “Do you need anything?”

“There’s a really nice shoe store here. I’d like to go there before we leave.”

Dave nodded. They waited in line, paid, and left. They put Dave’s new coat in the backseat with the other bags. Kurt moved the Navigator to the area where the shoe store was. They went inside and looked around.

“I think we’re going to need dress shoes for Glee. When I’ve looked at the videos from the competitions, the guys always wear black dress shoes. Do you have any? I didn’t see any in your closet.”

“I have those loafers I wore when we went out. But I haven’t had any dress shoes since… well, it’s been a while. Let’s go see what they have.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Clothes, shoes, coat. Last stop, Harry and David. Then we’ll head home.”

“What’s Harry and David?”

“They sell chocolates. While we’re here, I’m going to get my dad a couple of things for his stocking. A couple of really delicious things that don’t fit into his diet should be okay just for a holiday.”

“If they’re that good, I’ll get my dad a couple too.”

They each pick three, got in line, and paid.

Once they were outside, Dave said, “Those pears were really good. I might actually eat pears regularly if the ones at the store tasted like that.”

“I know. They’re so good.” Kurt pressed the remote on the Navigator. They both opened the back doors and put their bags in. “Is there anything else that you can think of?”

“Actually socks. I really only have white athletic socks.”

“Alright. Socks.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt and Dave came in the house carrying all of Dave’s shopping bags.

“Well, that looks promising,” Paul said. “Looks like your trip was successful.”

“Definitely,” Kurt said. “Boots, dress shoes, socks, jeans, hoodies, henleys, flannels, and a winter coat.”

“And I didn’t go over the amount you said I could spend.” Dave pulled his wallet out and gave Paul back his credit card.

“Well, Burt was right then. He said Kurt would help you shop at bargain prices.”

“That’s true.”

“I’m going to be back down in a minute to wash most of this stuff. It’s already starting to get chilly out and I don’t want to wear my letterman jacket in school all day anymore. I don’t mind wearing it to school, but I just want to hang it in my locker during classes. Looking tough isn’t my goal anymore. I just want to be comfortable in class.”

“Well, as long as you’re happy with your choices, I’m good. I wear what I wear because it’s what lawyers wear. If I could get away with wearing jeans and flannel to work, I would. But I don’t think the judges will take me very seriously that way.”

“Probably not,” Kurt said.

The two of them headed upstairs.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

While Dave was downstairs putting the clothes in the washer, Kurt took a shower and put pajamas on and the Bengals hoodie over the top. Dave came back up and found Kurt in his bed reading a book.

“You really think you’re going to get away with sleeping here again?”

“Yep.”

Dave laughed. “Does your dad always give in?”

“Pretty much.”

“Spoiled.”

“I know. But I’m not a brat, so it’s okay. I do my chores, I make straight A’s, I do my job, and I’m spoiled. Seems okay to me.” He winked at Dave.

“Umm hmm. You think I’m going to spoil you?”

“Yep. I’m in your bed in your pajamas, reading one of your books.”

“I see. I think that makes me the spoiled one.” Dave took the book, noted the page and put it on the side table. He sat on the edge of the bed facing Kurt and leaned forward and kissed him. “Yep. I’m definitely the spoiled one. Gorgeous guy in my bed, just waiting for me to climb in bed with him and kiss him.”

Kurt laughed. “Well, come on then.”

“I’m going to go shower first.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave came out of the bathroom and Kurt was gone. He went downstairs to look for him and found him in the laundry room hanging Dave’s new clothes up.

“If you only partially dry them and let them hang to dry the rest of the way, they fade and shrink less. Will you go check on the soup while I finish these?” A few minutes later, Kurt entered the kitchen and walked up beside Dave.

Dave turned and surprised him by picking him up and sitting him on the counter. He grabbed two bowls and divided the soup up. He washed the pot and put it in the dish drain. He stepped between Kurt’s knees. “I came out of the bathroom and you were gone.” He pouted.

“You goof, where would I have gone in my pajamas?”

“Home to sleep if your dad said to.”

“Meh. He’s a softie. He said I have to sleep at home the next three nights. But he didn’t say that you couldn’t stay too.”

Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt’s waist. Kurt extended his arms and propped them on Dave’s shoulders and leaned forward and kissed him.

“Okay,” Dave pressed in to the kiss.

Kurt opened just a bit so that he barely licked Dave’s upper lip and then pulled back a bit. “Let’s eat and then continue this upstairs.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“In the morning, we just need to leave in time for me to dump my stuff off at my house and change clothes really quickly.”

“Okay. Snuggles?”

“Definitely snuggles.” Kurt turned the lamp off and got in bed. He decided to be a little bold and gently pushed Dave onto his back and scooted closer and put his head on Dave’s chest. He wrapped his left arm across Dave’s waist and put his left leg on Dave’s.

Dave was surprised, but wrapped his arm around Kurt’s shoulders.

Kurt tipped his head up and moved his hand to gently turn Dave’s face and kissed him. “Is this okay?”

“Definitely.”

Kurt kissed him again, and then wiggled a bit into a comfortable position. He fell asleep listening to the beat of Dave’s heart.


	7. Chapter 7

Before school, the Glee Club met and began to learn the choreography for “Somebody to Love”. After school, they focused on learning the choral part of “What is this Feeling?” After a few detailed run-throughs, the group got their parts down and could begin practicing it at the correct tempo.

While they rest of the group worked on the song, Kurt took Rachel to the costume closet and they started on the task of organizing everything. They started the process by moving all of the guys and girls stuff to separate areas in the room. They quit when Kurt got a text from Dave telling him to come back.

Once they were back in the in the choir room, Kurt and Rachel started the song. The rest of the group came in when they were supposed to.

“Not bad, not bad at all. We’ll work on it more. One final announcement. Meet in the auditorium during lunch tomorrow. Eat in 10 minutes, if at all possible. We’re hosting the girls from Jane Addams School for an informal presentation tomorrow. Their school doesn’t have an auditorium. We’re going to give them a chance to practice here. You all are free to leave.”

After they left, Kurt and Dave drove to Kurt’s, left the Navigator there and headed to the movie theater to finally watch the Michael Jackson movie that Kurt had been dying to see.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The Glee Club continued to rehearse before school. They met after school again on Thursday. Mr. Schue had brought a group of wigs from the prop room for the guys to wear and they worked on a song from _Hair_.

After a few run-throughs, Rachel stepped down and talked to Mr. Schue. A few minutes later, she returned to her spot in the group.

Mr. Schue admitted, “I need to not let myself get distracted by the gimmicks other groups might have. Rachel is right. We don’t need them. We have the talent to win.”

After that, the guys took the wigs off and they worked on “Somebody to Love”.

“Good job, guys. We just need to keep practicing. We’ll work on the choreography again tomorrow morning. Next Monday, we’re hosting the choir from the Haverbrook School for the Deaf.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Friday night was the last regular season football game. The team was psyched up and they knew that several scouts were coming to watch the seniors play. They warmed up and were ready when the game started. It was their best game of the year. They won 42-18. There was a big party after the game, but Puck, Kurt, and Dave didn’t go.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The following Monday, the New Directions performed their _Hair_ song for the Haverbrook Deaf School choir, who honestly didn’t seem to enjoy their presentation at all. But they got up and performed “Imagine” and one by one the New Directions members got up and joined in singing along and imitating the sign language that the choir members were using.

After the Haverbrook students left, Rachel told everyone about the opportunity she had for them to perform in a commercial. The football players spoke up and let Rachel know that their practices would be continuing after school since they had made it into the playoffs, they decided to meet up Tuesday evening after football practice. 

Kurt wasn’t able to go to the rehearsal, but Dave set up his phone to record their final time of singing the song so he could practice on his own.

At the Tuesday rehearsal, they worked on the vocals and afterwards they all went to the Dollar General and bought matching pajama sets to wear during the filming. Dave grabbed a pair for Kurt. Rachel arranged for them to film on Sunday starting at 7:00 in the morning since the store was closed and it was one of the few times that she could get everyone together at the same time.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

By Friday morning, they were ready to combine the vocals and the choreography together. They worked on their group number and the duet.

That evening the football team pulled out another win. 35-32. Instead of going to the after party, Kurt had invited all of the New Directions over for a pizza party/sleepover/tailoring party. Tina had brought her sewing machine and the girls took all of the clothes to Kurt’s after school and set up in the dining room. Kurt used a tension rod and hung a sheet over the doorway to the kitchen when they got back from the game.

The girls sat around the dining room table eating and taking turns getting their dresses altered to fit right while the guys hung out in Kurt’s room sitting on the floor eating pizza waiting for Kurt to alter their slacks.

“Hey, Kurt, how’d you learn to sew?” Azimio asked.

“Well, my mom was really good at it and she made a lot of costumes for me when I was young and after she died I really wanted to be able to do it, so my dad said that if I still wanted to learn when I was 10, he’d get me lessons. He took me to the fabric store and asked about where to get me lessons and one of the ladies there showed him a sewing for beginners book. She told him that if I stuck it out and learned to make something in the book on my own that she’d give me lessons for free once a month. So, I made an apron from the book and took it in and showed it to her and she started giving me lessons. Once I learned all of the basics, I got more books and I used to record a sewing show on PBS and watch it. Now there’s a lot of tutorials on YouTube if there’s something specific I want to do that I don’t know how to do.”

“That’s cool. I bet it saves a lot of money later like if you have a professional job because you won’t have to pay someone else to take your clothes up.”

“That and I can fix my own vehicle.”

“What?” Artie asked.

“Dude, his dad own Hummel Tires and Lube,” Puck said.

“Yeah, and Dave’s dad’s a lawyer – doesn’t mean Dave knows anything about the law.”

Puck said, “Yeah, whatever, but Kurt’s like one of the best mechanics in Burt’s shop. Maybe sewing is a puzzle like fixing cars. It’s just like being able to see how all the pieces fit together. They shouldn’t have taken Home Ec out of the required courses for middle school. I know it seemed cool when they told us we didn’t have to take it, but now that I’m older I see that it was dumb. I don’t want to have to pay someone else to do something I could have learned to do myself. That just wastes money. Buying take-out or ready-made food at the store is expensive. They should keep teaching kids how to cook. It’s dumb for all of us to grow up only knowing how to put stuff in a microwave or make sandwiches. We have to eat our whole lives. We’d be better off knowing how to cook plants so they taste good than we will knowing how to identify all of their various parts on some damn biology diagram.”

Artie agree with him, “True that.”

“Maybe we should shock everyone at school and enroll in Home Ec next semester,” Azimio said. “The only thing I know how to make is macaroni and cheese from a box.”

“I’ll do it if more guys do it. Sitting around eating sounds fun,” Finn said. 

“But maybe we should just get Hummel to start a cooking club after school and get him to teach us ‘cause damn his stuff is good. Better than the bakery or the grocery store.”

Kurt laughed. “I take it all of the stuff was a hit at the Halloween party?”

“Hell, yeah. The moms were all like, ‘This was totally worth the $5 I donated.’ I don’t think there were even any crumbs left.”

“Go put your slacks on, Mike.” He handed a pair to Mike and he went in the closet. Kurt marked them when he came out.

“Okay, some of you guys need to help Artie into his slacks. I think they’re ready. I’ve worked on them this week, but I need to be certain.”

Mike and Matt took Artie in the closet and helped him. They carried him back out and sat him in his wheelchair.

“How do they feel?”

“Good. They fit right. How does the length look? There’s no mirror I can see in.”

Kurt answered, “They come down over your shoes like ours do when we’re standing. I think they look good. I took the legs in a bit since I basically took a pair a part and put them back together to get the length needed while making them fit your waist.”

“Well, they fit good as far as I can tell.”

“Good. Matt’s next.”

Once Kurt had finished with all of the slacks, he went upstairs to see how Tina was doing. He knocked on the doorframe and waited to be called in.

Azimio carried Artie upstairs and Puck took his wheelchair back up. The guys set the Wii up and started playing Mario Kart with the two extra controllers that Brittany brought with her.

Tina had only managed to get through two dresses.

“One of you bring your dress and come downstairs so we can get done sooner. I already finished all of the guys slacks because they are way easier to alter.”

Santana grabbed her dress and followed Kurt downstairs.

“The closet is over there. You can change in there.”

“No need. You aren’t going to perv on me.”

Kurt sat down at his sewing machine and waited for Santana to change and turned back around. Kurt texted Tina quickly to verify where to hem the dresses. He took a few straight pins and marked the bottom of Santana’s dress. “How does the top feel? It looks a little loose.”

“It is.”

“I’m going to take it in a little. I’ll do that first, so you can go back upstairs for a while if you want.” Kurt marked where to take it in. “I’d sit in the closet if you don’t want to redress. I can’t prevent one of the other guys from just walking down the stairs and seeing you half dressed.”

“Whatever. I like your room.”

“Thanks. I suppose you expected pink everywhere and a stuffed animal collection.”

“Actually no. You dress like a weird runway model sometimes, but you’re gay not a middle school girl.”

“Thank you.”

“Your room actually suits you. Very magazine-ish and super organized.”

Santana wandered around looking through Kurt’s books, magazines, and CDs.

“Here try it on again to see if I have the top tight enough.” She put it on and he examined it and she took it back off. “I have to do the hem now. That will take a while. You can go back upstairs and come back in like 30 minutes if you want.”

“How about if I just read one of your magazines?”

“Sure. Help yourself.” Once he had finished the hem, she tried it back on again. “That’s it. Yours is done. You can get dressed and take the dress upstairs with you. Send someone else down, please.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt finally gave up around 2:00am and lay down on his futon and went to sleep, leaving Mercedes’ dress to continue to work on the next morning. He woke up with Dave snuggled up behind him and Artie on an air mattress and the rest of the guys spread out around his room on the floor in sleeping bags. He quietly took Mercedes dress upstairs and used Tina’s machine to get busy on the hemming.

About an hour later, Rachel followed the sound of the sewing machine and found Kurt. “Is it okay if I go ahead and start breakfast?”

“Sure. Just try to clean up a little as you go.”

“Of course.”

“And eat in here. Dad isn’t going to want food dumped on the sofa. All of the dresses are out of the way except this one.”

“Got it. Before I go start in there, I wanted to talk to you. I want to win. I want us to be winners. I’m tired of being on the bottom of the bottom. I know Glee Club is considered to be a terrible thing to be in, but now that popular kids have joined, if we start winning, maybe our image will change. I let that get in the way of doing what was right. When you said you wanted a chance to sing ‘Defying Gravity’, I shouldn’t have acted like I did. If we want to win, we have to let whoever is best sing in competitions. I want that to be me more than anything. I want to be on Broadway. I want to be a star. But you reminded me that I can be a star WITH other people. I don’t have to alienate everyone to be a star.”

“That’s true. There aren’t really a lot of one-woman Broadway shows. You have to learn to work with other people and be personable.”

“I know, and I’m going to work on it. Anyway, I appreciate you being willing to give me the chance to sing the lead on the duet with you. I think we sound fantastic together. And while I agree with Mr. Schue’s assessment that you are not a suitable male lead for the group, you are definitely a suitable male lead for the Broadway songs. You can sing songs that Finn could never sing. And he has that boy next door, aw shucks quality that you don’t, which makes him good as the lead for other types of songs.”

“Puck and Artie are really good too, Rachel. I think you need to get over your stereotyping of a male lead that is based solely on looks. Make up and wigs can transform people into looking like whatever character they’re supposed to be portraying. Just look at actors like Jason Isaacs. How he looked and acted in _Hook_ was nothing like how he looked in the _Harry Potter_ movies. You and Mr. Schue are judging my masculinity and suitability as a male lead based on my preferred style of dressing. Don’t be so limiting. I can sing as low as Finn, maybe lower. You’ve just never heard me. But just because you’ve not heard me doesn’t mean I can’t.”

“I guess I never really thought about it. It’s just that everyone likes Finn. And him being the male lead gives the group a chance to stop being the lowest of the low at school.”

“I get that. And I am fully aware that I don’t have the social clout that Finn does. But you also need to realize that for the most part, the people who put Finn at the top of the social ladder don’t actually attend choir competitions. Finding a good song for him to sing lead on is a good idea. Just don’t always assume that it should be you singing with him. You can sing things that the other girls in our group can’t, just like I can sing things that the other guys in our group can’t. We really need to figure out how to best use each of the unique skills the people in our group have. I mean honestly, can you see Tina singing what Mercedes is singing for Sectionals? But at the same time, Tina is perfect for ‘True Colors’. Different songs, different styles, different lead singers. If you always want to be the lead, start a band. Be the lead singer in your own band. Sing in local places.”

“I get it. Glee Club isn’t my own personal band. I can’t just dictate that I get every solo.”

“Think of being in New Directions the way you’d think about being a violin in an orchestra. Sure there are lots of orchestra pieces with violin solos, but it would sound terrible to play the lead saxophone part in a jazz piece on a violin. And there are lots of instruments in an orchestra that get featured parts, like flutes, oboes, and trumpets, but there are also other instruments that rarely get featured, but the orchestra would sound terrible without them. We’re not going to only perform pieces with violin solos.”

“That’s an interesting analogy.”

“You need to think of unusual pairs. Dave and Tina could totally pull off that ‘You’ll Never Find’ duet that Michael Bublé and Laura Pausini did recently.”

“Hmm. I never really thought about it.”

“Other than Puck’s mohawk making him stand out from the rest of us, once you put us all in matching clothes, you lose those stereotypes that you tack onto us when we’re in our regular clothes. If Puck grew his hair out and all of us styled our hair similarly, those preconceived ideas of what songs are suited to our personalities are suddenly just gone. Just seeing the 7 of us, not counting Puck, standing on stage in these outfits, there’s no way for anyone to guess which one of us is a rocker or a crooner. People who don’t know us, don’t know that I’m a loser and Finn is popular.”

“I disagree. I’m betting that people CAN actually tell that Finn is popular and you are not because you would act self-conscious and he would not. He’s used to being the center of attention and being praised. You aren’t. You would shy back and look at your feet or avoid making eye contact. I’m coming across as cocky and Tina is too timid. You’re like Tina.”

“I’ll think about that, but you’re wrong about me. I may come across as socially shy, but I’m not on stage. I’ll show you something later. I don’t want to wake the guys up right now to get it. But your idea is still important. Maybe we need to video ourselves and figure out what we might be doing to undermine ourselves.”

“That’s an interesting idea. I have found that I’ve learned a lot from watching the recordings of myself that I post to MySpace.”

“We need to find ways to improve individually and as a group. Like an orchestra. The violinist needs to be as good as they can get, while the bassoonist also need to be the best they can be. The point isn’t to just give the bassoon solo to a violinist. I have a great idea for something for us to do as a group after Sectionals.”

“I’m going to think about what you’ve said. I’ll let you finish hemming that dress. I should learn to sew. Maybe Tina would give me lessons in trade for some lessons on poise and self-confidence.” Rachel went back to the living room to get the girls up.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After the girls had eaten breakfast, they went downstairs and kicked the boys upstairs so they could take quick showers. While the girls were all downstairs, the guys ate. Once they finished, they sat around the table talking.

“Do all of you own plain black belts?” Kurt asked. “If you don’t you need to get one. Also, I personally hated my tie flying around while we performed at the Invitationals. Is anyone opposed to me finding cheap tie tacks to keep our ties in place while we perform?”

“I have no idea what a tie tack is, but I am in favor of our ties not flapping around,” Puck said.

“Alright. I’ll get 8, somewhere cheap and paint them black if I have to. That way they don’t even have to match exactly.”

“Works for me. Anything blocking my view of my feet at any point in time is a dancing hazard,” Finn said.

“You all can go back to playing games or watching a movie or whatever. When the girls come up, I need to see all of them in their dresses at the same time to make sure we’ve got them all the way they need to be. After that, I think Rachel wants us to practice ‘Jump’ a few times before everyone leaves. Oh, and anyone who needs a belt that doesn’t have one can get one at Goodwill for 99 cents usually.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave stayed after everyone else left. He went down and showered while Kurt straightened up the upstairs. Dave swept and cleaned up the trash in Kurt’s room while Kurt showered. They plopped on the futon once Kurt came out of the bathroom.

“I’m so tired. How late did you all stay up? I crashed around 2:00 and you were all still upstairs.”

“I think we came down around 4:00. Everyone was so tired they just went to sleep. So, I managed to sneak into bed with you.”

“I wondered. I figured they’d act weird about you sleeping in my bed, but then you were in bed with me. At least all of our slacks fit and the dresses fit right. Tina and I still have to make the sashes. I think we’re going out after the commercial shoot tomorrow to get the fabric.”

“I need to get busy on my homework since we’re doing that commercial thing tomorrow. Who knows how long that will take.”

“I can’t read right now. I’ll just fall asleep. How about we take a nap? I’ll set my phone alarm.”

“Okay.”

Kurt set his alarm and turned on his side and Dave snuggled up behind him.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sunday morning, everyone arrived at the mattress store on time. The New Directions showed the director their ideas and he went with them. Dave and Azimio didn’t have a lot of luck learning to do any of the flips, so they opted to stay with Artie and just sang. It took a lot of takes before the director was satisfied, but they were done by noon. They all changed back into their clothes and decided to go out to Taco Bell together for lunch. Afterwards, they all split and went their separate ways with the half that could drive giving rides to the rest of the group.

Tina went with Kurt to the fabric store to get the fabric for the sashes. She had left her sewing machine the day before, so they headed to Kurt’s. Kurt brought his sewing machine up to the dining room. The two of them worked all afternoon and finished all of the sashes and got them fastened to the dresses. They loaded all of the dresses and slacks in the back of the Navigator. Kurt put all of his schoolbooks and an outfit to wear to school Monday in a duffle and put it in the backseat. Tina packed up her sewing stuff and Kurt helped her load it into the backseat and he took her home.

Kurt went to Dave’s after he dropped Tina off. After they ate dinner, they spent the evening lying around on Dave’s sofa in the den watching old movies.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They still held their before-school rehearsals due to the football team moving ahead in the playoffs. They had just five days of practice left before Sectionals. Once their half-hour was up they all headed off to class.

They met back up in the auditorium after school to run through their whole set a few times. They left when they finished without going back to the choir room.

They met up again Tuesday morning before school and found a stack of mattresses in the choir room. At lunch they found out that Sue had informed Mr. Schue that if he attended Sectionals as their director, the New Directions would be forced to forfeit because, by opening one of the mattresses, he had inadvertently broken a show choir by-law that prevents any show choir from making money by performing. He promised that he would find a way for them to still compete.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Wednesday evening when Kurt got home from work around 7:15, he was surprised to find Dave sitting in the living room.

“Hey, handsome. Whatcha doin’?” Kurt asked with a fake western accent.

Dave laughed. “I’m sitting here waiting for you to get home.”

“Clearly.” Kurt plopped down on the sofa. “I’m in need of a shower. You can watch something until I come back up, or you can come down and wait for me in my room. You’re all dressed up?”

“I am. Go ahead and shower and get redressed.”

“Okay.” Kurt headed downstairs.

Dave took the folding table and chairs down to Kurt’s room. He went back up and grabbed the tablecloth, placemats, and place settings. Once he heard Kurt rummaging through his closet, he brought the food down that he had in the oven and plated it. He brought the candles and lighter back down and lit the candles and pocketed the lighter. He put in one of Kurt’s jazz CDs and played it quietly. He turned the lights in the room off and waited for Kurt.

Kurt came out a few minutes later. “What’s all this? It’s beautiful.”

“Come eat with me.”

They sat down and Kurt had a huge smile on his face. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Kurt took a bite. “Did you cook this for me?”

“I did.”

“It’s really good.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

Kurt hadn’t put any shoes on when he came out. He slipped his foot up under Dave’s pant leg.

“That tickles.”

“Should I stop?”

“Definitely not.”

Kurt laughed. “You know you really don’t have to spoil me. I was just teasing. I’m not expecting you to do things like this.”

“I didn’t do it because I thought you expected me to. I did it because I wanted to.”

“Well, it’s really sweet.”

They finished eating without a lot of talking. Kurt was recuperating from a three-hour shift that had involved two tire rotations after football practice. When they were done, Dave moved the table to the bottom of the stairwell to get it out of the way. He turned back and walked to where Kurt was sitting.

“Care to dance with me?””

“Sure. Just give me a minute.” He went in his closet and put his cowboy boots on because they were the quickest thing he could think of with the highest heel. He was back out in a flash and he noticed hat Dave had turned the volume up a bit and had changed the CD or hooked up his phone.

He stepped forward and took Dave’s hand. They slow danced around the room for a couple of songs. When the third song started, Dave began to sing along. He sang “Unforgettable” in Kurt’s ear as he held him close. Kurt could hardly believe that someone felt that way about him. He knew that Dave had said he had liked him for a long time, but he was overwhelmed to hear Dave sing to him like that. When the song ended Kurt wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck and kissed him.

“That was beautiful. Thank you.”

They danced to one more song and Dave said, “I was going to take you out for dessert, but I want to make sure you actually want to go out. We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“I’m a little confused by the way you phrased that. Are you concerned that I don’t want to be seen with you or are you just not sure whether I want to leave the house and go somewhere else?”

“Both, I guess.”

“Come sit down.”

Dave followed him over to the futon and they sat down next to each other. Kurt took Dave’s hand and interlaced their fingers.

“First off, I’m not ashamed to be seen with you.” He squeezed Dave’s hand. “I don’t initiate any PDA because we’ve never actually talked about it and I don’t know what you’re comfortable with. When we first went out, we acted more like we were just friends. And that was fine. I told you that I would never push you to come out in any setting. And I won’t. But you came out at school and you rarely do anything couple-ish, except sitting close to me in Glee and putting your arm across the back of my chair. Keep in mind, this is not a complaint, just a statement. I’ve just followed what you did so I wouldn’t inadvertently out you or make you feel uncomfortable. So, maybe now is a good time to define what you are comfortable with in public.”

“I never really thought I’d be comfortable with any of it. Like I told you, originally I wanted to be straight and I was disappointed when I found out the conversion therapy wouldn’t work.”

“I remember.”

“And then I met the most gorgeous, amazing, and sassy guy who happens to also be gay. And I came to terms with the fact that I like guys and specifically I really like you. And over the last few months, I guess I’ve just realized how much less stock I put in what other people think. I mean, my mom walked out on us, but as much as I miss her, I don’t miss always being on edge at home.”

“I understand. I stood in my basement back in September and told my dad that Tina was my girlfriend, but we weren’t exclusive yet.”

Dave laughed.

“And my dad is pretty open-minded. I can imagine the stress of living with someone who was vocally homophobic.”

“Yeah. But now I’m through caring about what people I don’t even know and I’m not friends with think about my personal life. And I came to the conclusion that having my dad on my side is enough. I’m not interested in one-sided friendships. If someone can’t accept me for who I am, then I’m just letting the person go. At the same time, this isn’t exactly San Francisco or some other gay-friendly place and I don’t want to endanger you, so I hold back. When we’re at school, it takes a lot of focused effort not to just reach out and take your hand when we walk though the halls. I have to stop myself from putting my arm around you or on your leg when we’re sitting at lunch eating together. I think that we spend so much time together just doing our own thing in the same space that I’m used to constantly brushing up against you or kissing you on the back of the neck when I walk by or holding hands with you while we read or playing footsie while we do math problems.”

“I stop myself too, in case you’ve wondered. When you sit next to me in class, I struggle not to put my left hand on your leg just to touch you somewhere. When you walk next to me in the hallway, I try to put my hand on something I’m holding or carrying so that I don’t accidentally grab your hand because it’s near mine.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. Why?”

“I guess I’ve just noticed you focusing on holding onto your bag intentionally or shifting your books into the arm closest to me or sitting on your hand in class – so it seems like your putting a lot of effort into keeping me from holding your hand. I didn’t know how to interpret your actions.”

“I’m putting a lot of effort into not reaching out for you because you never said what you were comfortable with, so I didn’t do anything that I thought would make you uncomfortable. So, I guess it comes back to you again. What are you comfortable with?”

“That’s so hard to answer because whenever you’re within my reach, I just like touching you.”

“I already said that I feel the same way. I’m all the way out. My closet was see-through anyway. So, there’s little point in trying to hide who I am. But I do my best not to stand out too much when we go out.   But as far as I’m concerned, I’m open to PDA. We can go out to wherever you had planned and I’ll hold your hand. You can wrap your arm around my shoulders or around my waist. You can hug or kiss me if you want. I’m not big on seeing other people do much more than chaste kissing in public, so that’s where I’d feel comfortable stopping myself.”

“So, if we went to the Lima Bean and you went to get us a table and I brought our drinks to the table and I sat down next to you and slid your coffee to you and kissed you, you’d be okay with that.”

“Sure, but I don’t want you to feel like you SHOULD do that just because I’d be fine with it. I’d want you to do because you actually WANT to do it. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah. So, you’d do all of those couple-ish things like split a dessert or a drink?”

“Of course. We kiss all the time. It’s not like you have cooties or something.” He leaned toward Dave and kissed him.

“I know I don’t have cooties.” Dave laughed.

“But it’s entirely up to you. Not everyone enjoys PDA, gay or straight or otherwise inclined. I’m not going to break up with you or something if you’re not comfortable with PDA. I don’t want you to feel like you have to do something you’re uncomfortable with to keep me happy. But I definitely don’t want you to think that I’m intentionally withholding PDA from you because I’m embarrassed to be seen with you.”

“So, how about for the next week, you reciprocate any PDA that I initiate? I won’t go past the point of simple kisses, if I even get that far. We’ll talk about it again in a week and see what we both feel comfortable with.”

“Seems reasonable to me. Are we having Thanksgiving at your house or here?”

“Here I think. You guys have a bigger TV to watch sports on.”

Kurt laughed. “That makes sense.” He leaned over and kissed Dave on the cheek. “How about for tonight, I help you put the stuff from dinner back upstairs and we come back down and get ready for bed. I didn’t actually fix my hair before I came out, so it’s product free. You can shower if you want and we can get in bed and snuggle. Not because I don’t want to go out with you, but because I’d rather stay in this evening. Everything you did was very sweet and very romantic. You’re a big sweetie. Cooking for me, candles, dancing, and a serenade. Puts my measly effort to shame.”

“I happened to love the origami flower in my locker this morning. It’s at home on my dresser where I can look at it whenever I want and think about the beautiful guy who took the time to fold a beautiful flower for me.”

“You’re a sap for sure. Who’d a thunk?”

“Thunk? Your hick is showing.”

“You’re the one that line danced for me.”

“You’re the one who wanted me to teach you so you could watch my ass the whole time.”

Kurt laughed. “Come on. Let’s get that stuff upstairs. When’s my dad coming back?”

“I think around 10:00.”

“It’s got to be close to 9:30. I didn’t get any homework done tonight. I need to either do the Algebra problem set tonight or I have to get up extra early to do it in the morning and we already have to be at school early.”

“I did all of mine while you were at work. How about you get started on yours and I’ll take this stuff up myself. I’ll take a shower when I’m done. Maybe you’ll have finished the math problems by then.”

“Good plan. I’ll get started.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Glee Club still met before school to rehearse, but Mr. Schue couldn’t do anything to help them. He didn’t attend their rehearsals. Thursday after school, Miss Pillsbury showed up in his place and said that she would be the one chaperoning the trip and be the club’s faculty advisor. She knew nothing about directing them, but she was there, which is what mattered the most.

Friday night was an away game, which made it tough on the New Directions members. They won and soon as they got back to the school, they went straight home to sleep because they had to be back at the school early the next morning.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Miss Pillsbury was there waiting for them Saturday morning. They loaded their costumes and boarded the bus. When they got the auditorium where they were competing, they headed to the green room to get ready.

Miss Pillsbury picked up a program as she headed to the auditorium to watch. She called Mr. Schuester and confirmed his suspicions. The Haverbrook Deaf Choir sang one of the songs from the fake set list that he had given to Coach Sue and the Jane Addams Girls School choir sang two of the songs. When it was time for the New Directions to perform, she called him back and let him listen to them sing.

Kurt and Rachel stepped on to the stage and started the spoken parts of “What is this Feeling?” They transitioned into the song and did a fantastic job with their acting. The rest of the New Directions came in on time and sang their parts well. Their choreography looked good.

They reset quickly for “Somebody to Love” and it looked a lot better than it had at the Invitationals when Rachel mostly wandered around the stage with Finn. Santana did a great job on lead and they did a good job balancing the sound with having more guys than girls.

The members of the group reset with four guys on the top row, the four girls on the second riser, and the other four guys on the first with Mercedes front and center belting out “And I’m Telling You”. The crowd was on their feet and cheering when she finished. Her performance brought the house down. The applause didn’t die down for quite some time. She stepped back and the curtain closed. They all hugged and congratulated each other.

During the intermission while the judges made their decision, Kurt and Rachel went to retrieve the video camera they had asked one of the Haverbrook students to use to record them and thanked him. They went back to their seats and waited for the results. Once all of the groups were on stage, the emcee announced that the New Directions came in first and were advancing to the Regionals competition.

Miss Pillsbury took a few photos of them on the stage with their trophy before they went back to the green room to change. After they were redressed and their costumes were packed up, they took everything back out to the bus and went back to McKinley.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday morning was the first time they hadn’t rehearsed before school in nearly a month, but Kurt and had gotten accustomed to getting up earlier. He picked Dave up at the time he had been to get to school early. Dave hopped in the passenger seat and leaned forward and kissed Kurt when he got in.

“Good morning. How about we go to the Lima Bean before school?”

“Sure.” Kurt drove to the coffee shop and pulled into the crowded lot. “It looks like we’ll need to get it to go.”

“That’s fine. Come get in line with me.”

They got out of the Navigator and headed inside. Dave stood behind him in line and put his hands on Kurt’s waist. Kurt smiled and left Dave’s hands there. Dave had been being publicly affectionate with him since they had talked the week before. He had started holding Kurt’s hand in the hallways. He wrapped his arm around Kurt’s waist at lunch sometimes. When they were out in public, sometimes he held Kurt’s hand and other times, he wrapped his arm around Kurt’s waist.

They waited for their drinks and decided to go ahead and go to school. They walked in together, holding hands and headed to the choir room to enjoy their drinks in peace. They opened the door and stepped inside to find Mercedes and Azimio kissing. When the two of them heard the door close, they stopped and looked up.

“You made me jump,” Mercedes said.

“Is there something you two would like to share?” Kurt teased.

“I asked this beautiful lady to be my girlfriend after dinner Saturday night and she agreed.”

“Congratulations!” Kurt said and walked over to Mercedes and hugged her.

“My parents know and everything. He’s been a real gentleman and my mom really likes him.”

“Her dad didn’t even threaten me… much.” He laughed.

“We’ll leave you two and go drink our coffee somewhere else,” Kurt said. He winked at Mercedes and took Dave’s hand and led them out to the courtyard to a table as far away from everyone else as he could find.

“What was wrong with all of the empty places we walked past?” Dave asked.

“I guess it’s probably just leftover from my hypervigilant days. Being able to see everyone rather than being in the center of the action. But you’re right. There’s no reason not to sit in one of those other places. We can move if you want.”

“Not now, we’re already sitting here. But maybe next time.”

“Sure.”

“That’s part of what you were trying to explain last week, wasn’t it?”

“Sitting in places like this and my behavior in general makes you think that I’m ashamed to be seen with you or at least makes you wonder about it.”

“I hadn’t thought about what specifically making me feel that way except that I did notice how much effort you were putting into not holding my hand. But now that I think about it, I’m sure you’re right. You always choose the booth or table in a back corner, if we’re given an option. You didn’t start to sit with me in the classes we share. You still sat in the back and I was the one that went to sit with you. And you sit in the back row in Glee.”

Kurt scooted closer to Dave. “I’m sorry. You’re always so sweet to me and I never even considered how you would interpret my behavior. Last year it didn’t take long for everyone who didn’t already know me to figure out that I was the lowest of the low socially. And that associating with me greatly increased someone’s odds of being on the receiving end of slushie facials. Initially, I tried sitting with people, in an attempt to turn over a new leaf and be more social. But after a few people I sat down near got slushied, I just gave up trying. I’d just walk past everyone and sit as far away from people as I could. It gave me a good vantage point and it was just better for everyone. Sitting in the back of a classroom prevents being hit with as many spit wads. A lot of my behavior is protecting myself and it’s just my default setting now.” He sat thinking for a few minutes. “This reminds me of something Rachel said. I told her that except Puck because of his mohawk, all of us guys could stand on a stage in our costumes and no one would be able to tell which ones of us were popular and which ones were the losers. She said I was wrong. She said that my behavior would give it away to people looking at us. I think she might be more right than I had originally given her credit for.”

“Don’t tell her that. She already has a big head.”

Kurt laughed. “She and I had a long talk. She’s trying. I need to think about some stuff though. I’m making you less confident by being so socially isolating. I don’t want to do that to you. If you want to hang out and do things with the other jocks, I’m okay with that. I know we’ve been spending most of our time together, but I don’t want you to feel like I’m limiting your life. I want you to be happy being yourself and to do what you enjoy. I won’t like you less because you want to go play a game of football or basketball without me.”

“I think it’s just a combination. I no longer feel like that confident jock because it was really just an act. I never worried about where I sat or who I sat with as far as having my choice of companions or seating. But I’m not who all of those people thought I was. I feel better knowing that you’re not choosing to sit way over here because you don’t want people to see us together. How about we work on it until we find some solution that we both can be okay with. Maybe we could sit with the Glee Club at lunch some days and the football team other days.”

“Okay. The honest truth is that I don’t know how to have friends. Mercedes and I had just started to hang out after we both joined Glee, but that was mostly just going shopping and me giving her make-overs and watching TV shows that my dad hates. I had a sleepover for her, Tina, and Rachel. That was before Santana, Quinn, and Brittany joined Glee. Mercedes doesn’t really know anything personal about me. We hadn’t really made it to the confide-in-each-other stage of friendship. I mean, it had only been a week and a half or so before we started dating when she threw a brick through my windshield because I turned her down when she asked me out on a date. Later that week, I came out to her. She was the first person I had ever actually spoken the words, ‘I’m gay.’ to. So, it’s not like I have much experience with having friends. You asked me out and my dad let me spend as much time with you as I wanted to. And we just fell into being ourselves together. I like being with you. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had and I know you already have a best friend and that’s okay. I don’t want you to feel like I’m trying to monopolize your life. It’s okay to want to spend time with Azimio and the jocks if you want.”

“The bell’s going to ring soon. We can talk more later. I feel better already. I was starting to feel like our relationship was lopsided. Like I really like you, a lot – but you only sort of, kind of, liked me since you kept your distance from me and then had us stay away from everyone else. I understand better now.”

“I have no way of comparing how much you like me versus how much I like you, but if I just wanted you to be some kind of trophy jock boyfriend, I wouldn’t spend all of my free time with you. I’d just go out once a week on a public date with you and I would most certainly hold your hand in the hallway and sit right next to you at the jock table to assert our relationship to the people at school. Those would all be selfish things to do because I would be doing them for myself. It would have been a way of inserting myself at the top and using you to get there. But like I said, I didn’t consider how my reticence to seem like a couple would make you feel insecure about our relationship. We just have very different social experiences. It’s because I care and I didn’t want to push you to be more demonstrative than you wanted to be that I’ve been hands off and more reserved.”

“We have to go to class. We’ll keep talking. I’m understanding more the more we talk.” He leaned toward Kurt. “Can I kiss you here?”

“If you want to.”

“I do want to, but I want you to want me to.”

“Go ahead then.” He smiled and leaned toward Dave.

They kissed quickly and chastely. They both stood up and once Kurt had his satchel up on his shoulder, Dave took Kurt’s hand and didn’t let go until they split apart to go different directions for their first period class.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt put his hand on Dave’s leg in the morning class they shared. They met at the Navigator and carried in the containers of cookies and took them to the jock table. They sat together at lunch with the jocks and Dave put his arm around Kurt’s waist while they ate. They discussed the upcoming game. After they finished eating, Kurt collected his cookie earnings and quickly returned the containers to his SUV. In the afternoon class they shared, they switched sides and Dave put his hand on Kurt’s leg during class. In Glee, Dave pushed his chair close and put his arm around Kurt’s shoulders. Kurt leaned into him and relaxed.

Mr. Schue came in a few minutes later. “I want to congratulate all of you on your fantastic performance at Sectionals. We will be moving on to compete at Regionals, which I have found out is in early March, which gives us 12 weeks to prepare, not counting winter break and this week since we’re only meeting today because Thursday is Thanksgiving. We are moving into a new era, as winners. I want all of you to think of a song containing ‘Hello’. As in ‘Hello to a new era.’”

Kurt raised his hand.

“Yes, Kurt?”

“While everyone was at my house when Tina and I did the costume alterations, Rachel and I had a long conversation. We both brought up a lot of valid points about our group. She and you have certain ideas about who makes an appropriate male lead and I countered with the fact that while your assessment may be true for certain genres of music that it isn’t true across the board.”

“Get to your point Twinkletoes,” Santana said.

Kurt took a deep breath and ignored her. “I’d like to suggest that each Thursday that we each choose a genre of music and a style of dress and we demonstrate our acting and singing abilities across styles of music on the following Monday. We can’t pick the best representation of a song when we really don’t know what our skills are. Plus, Rachel pointed out that while some of us have an overabundance of self-confidence to the point of bordering on ridiculous that some of us lack confidence which holds us back from performing at our best.”

“I can see your point, Kurt. But give us at least one example before I agree to this.”

“For example, you just assigned us to find a song with ‘hello’ in it. Rather than choosing an open ended assignment, which will more than likely end with each of us choosing a song in our preferred style or a lot of us not participating at all because we can’t find a song in our style that meets your requirements, I suggest we choose something like dressing up in an elegant, suave style and singing a song from the 30’s or 40’s for the following Monday. Another example would be for us to dress and goth style and sing in hard rock, metal or heavy metal style. Obviously not all of us are going to be good at singing in that style, but there might come a time when choosing one of us who is to sing lead on a song in that style and the rest of us would need to be able to act and sing back up with the appropriate look and attitude. We could even vote each week for the best act and then have a show at the year where the winners perform their song.”

“What do the rest of you think?”

Puck spoke up, “I admit I think I zoned out at some point, but he’s saying that we’ll dress up and sing in different styles, pick who’s the best each week and then have a big show like a concert at the end of the year?”

“Yep,” Santana said. “I like the idea. I mean it’s really unlikely that we’ll win at Regionals our very first year and we can keep working on a big concert-like set list we can perform like in May or something. And Kurt’s right. We need to figure out what our strengths are. I’ve never tried singing anything from the 30’s or 40’s. I don’t know that I’ve ever even heard any music that old. But I might kick butt at it. And we’ve got all those costumes we’re going to work on straightening up. There might be stuff in there from old performances and shows that we can use without spending a bunch of money to do it. It could be fun.”

“I agree,” Rachel said. “Kurt said that he can sing as low as Finn, but I’ve never heard him. Until he sang ‘Defying Gravity’, I don’t think I had ever heard him sing by himself. And that’s true for at least half of the group. Kurt also pointed out that I need to remember that if I want to sing lead all the time I should start my own band.”

“Here, here,” Artie said. “We don’t hate your voice Rachel. You’re a good singer. But all of us want a chance to shine. This time you, Mercedes, Finn, Santana, and Kurt were in the spotlight. At Regionals, the rest of us need a chance to be in the spotlight, if we want it. There may be some people in the group that like being in the background. We won’t push them into the spotlight against their will or anything. But I think Kurt’s idea is pretty cool.”

“Alright, then. We’ll stick with my ‘hello’ assignment for the Monday after break and the following week we’ll do 30’s and 40’s songs and costuming. Work more on the hair and make up and use what you can find in the costume room rather than buying stuff. The first Tuesday and Wednesday that the football team doesn’t practice after school, we’ll be working to organize the costumes. That will help a lot with these weekly assignments. My only rule with the costumes is that you put them back organized once we get the room cleaned up. One last thing before I get to my lesson is that I wanted to congratulate those of you on the football team for making it to the Regional Finals this Friday.”

Everyone clapped and whooped. Mr. Schue went on to start his lesson.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Tuesday at football practice, the team was completely shocked by Miss Pillsbury announcing that Coach Tanaka had quit.

“I didn’t want all of you to lose out on your chance at advancing in the playoffs, so I offered to take over when I found out today that Coach Tanaka quit over the weekend. I know absolutely NOTHING about football, though.”

“That’s okay Miss P,” Azimio said. “Me and Puck been running the team ever since Hummel joined and we got ourselves a good kicker. Coach Tanaka’s been sitting on the bench ever since like two months ago. We’re cool. We got this.”

“Everybody up and run laps,” Puck said. He jogged out to the head of the group to pace them around the stadium.

Kurt moved and sat next to Miss Pillsbury. “Thanks for stepping in. It means a lot to the seniors who are being scouted. A couple of them got offers already.”

“I know. That’s what made me realize that I had to do this despite being 100% unqualified.”

“Azimio’s got this. He’s been coming up with good plays for the last couple of months. Puck trains them.”

“And you?”

“I kick footballs. The freshmen second-stringers will be back after the laps and they’ll take turns holding and retrieving the balls I kick. I don’t have to run laps or train. Puck took me in the weight room one day and had me show him what I can do. I do a lot of yoga and resistance work at home. He said I don’t need to put on muscle mass or bulk up and for me to keep doing what I do at home since I’m really strong without the bulk. He’s in charge and I hate running laps, so who am I to argue.”

Miss Pillsbury laughed. “Makes sense to me.”

“What’s going to happen to the basketball team?”

“Without a coach, there won’t be one this year.”

“That stinks for the seniors who had been hoping to get scouted, if there are any.”

“It does, but I don’t think the school would be okay with me being a substitute coach for an entire season when I am clueless. This is just for a few weeks at most. They may find someone to hire part time just to coach basketball. We’ll just have to wait and see. For the rest of the semester, Sue is overseeing both the boys and girls PE classes. For the next three weeks, they’ll be doing aerobics and regular exercises like sit-ups and push-ups. There’s not much else we can do. We’re bringing in a substitute of course, but you know what will happen to a PE substitute.”

“Yeah. Everyone will just sit there or chaos.”

“Exactly. So, everyone will be in the gym together with Sue and the substitute.”

All the guys came back from running. They grabbed drinks and sat down.

“Hummel’s got an announcement before we go run plays,” Azimio said.

Kurt got up, “Thursday is Thanksgiving and we’re having a big three-day sports spectacular at my house. We have a 55-inch TV and you’re all invited to come starting at noon on Thursday. There are three big games on Thursday, and more on Friday and Saturday. Obviously we have to be here to play Friday night and possibly Saturday in Dayton if we win Friday. It’s a come and go whenever you want event. Bring drinks and snacks to share and a sleeping bag if you want to stay over. I do need to know how many people are coming for Thanksgiving dinner so I know how much food to cook.”

“You mean you’re inviting us to eat a real Thanksgiving dinner, like a turkey?”

“Yeah. But I need to know who’s coming so I buy enough to feed everybody. I have a notebook. You can sign up on your way out to the field if you want to come at noon for the Thanksgiving meal itself. Only rule is no alcohol. Dave’s dad and my dad will be there. So, there’ll be turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cornbread stuffing, pumpkin pie, and carrot cake. We’ll make sandwiches out of the leftover turkey for dinner before the third game starts. You can come and go if you want. I don’t have the game times with me, but you all probably already know when they are.”

“If we pay you, will you make brownies or something chocolate?” Azimio asked.

“I can make brownies too. Anyone who wants to just come for the games can do that too.”

Azimio stood up again. “Defensive line to the weight room. You know what to do. Offensive line to the field. Go!”

Kurt sat where he was holding the pen and notebook until everyone had walked past. A few guys signed up. He handed it to Miss Pillsbury. “I’m going to go kick footballs.”

She nodded. When he came to pick the notebook up before he left for the locker room, five guys had signed up to come for the big meal and quite a few said that they’d be over for some of the games.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Wednesday evening after football practice, Kurt hurried home to start baking one of the turkeys. As soon as the turkey was in the oven, he went to the shop to work his shift.

When he got off, he picked Dave up and they went to Sam’s Club and the grocery store and took everything back to the Hummel’s. Kurt had made a schedule of when to start each dish. He put Dave to work peeling potatoes while he took a shower. He came back up and the two of them worked together to follow Kurt’s plans and get everything prepped.

When Kurt pulled the turkey out, he put two pumpkin pies in the oven. He let the turkey cool to the point of being able to slice it up. He had Dave use an electric knife to carve it up. He stored the slices in a chicken roaster. Kurt prepped two more pumpkin pies.

They continued to work until 10:30 and then headed downstairs. They changed into pajamas. Kurt turned some soft music on and then lay down with Dave.

“We did good. I’ll get up in the morning and put the second turkey in. Later we can make breakfast, and then get started on the rest.”

“Okay. You’re going to a lot of trouble making all of this stuff.”

“You’re helping. If you weren’t helping me, I couldn’t do it. Do you wish we weren’t doing it? Did I rope you into too much?”

“No, it’s fine. It’s just that most of the guys who will be in and out to watch the games and stuff were never nice to you.”

“I know. But we were talking and I thought about how I shut everyone out across the board. I just shut out everyone. It’s no wonder everyone thought I was a weirdo and stuck up. I didn’t let anyone close to me. All they ever saw was me being quiet and wearing fancy clothes. If I want to make more friends, I’m going to have to try harder. I guess I just want to give them a chance to see that I’m just a normal guy. I live in a normal house, with a normal dad, who does normal things. I cook, but without a mom someone has to cook. I don’t have to get the sewing machine out and demonstrate my ability to do ruching. Or show them how good I am at yoga.”

“Mmm. I like your yoga lessons.”

“Of course you do.” Kurt rolled his eyes.

“You’re rolling your eyes. I can hear you.”

Kurt laughed. “Of course you can.” He leaned forward and kissed Dave. “I guess I’m just stepping out of my comfort zone and trying new things. Guys like to eat and football players generally like to watch football games. I know the girls in Glee will take me in, but I’m not a girl. I don’t want to be a girl. Even if I have better insight into society’s general misogynistic treatment of women because as an effeminate gay man, I get lumped in with them in the way men treat me.”

“I think I get it. Gay men aren’t girls and you don’t dislike or disrespect women, but you want to be seen as a man.”

“I do. Changing the topic … we said we’d talk in a week. How do you feel about the changes you made? Has your opinion on PDA changed?”

“It has. I didn’t realize how tense I was feeling about our relationship when you were purposefully not showing any PDA and I thought you weren’t secure enough in how you felt to be willing to do simple things like hold my hand. We had our wires crossed and it was no one’s fault, but we were both suffering. I learned that I should share when something is bothering me sooner rather than keeping it to myself. And I learned that I really like the freedom of being able to touch you in public. Just the small things. What about you?”

“I’m fine with how we changed things in the last week. All I ever wanted was for you to feel comfortable. You were the one risking everything. You were the one the jocks attacked and you’re the one that ended up in the ER. I will just continue to follow your lead. I’ll just assume that you are comfortable with me doing whatever you do. So, if you hug me in front of my locker, I will assume that you’re okay with me hugging you in front of yours. And we’ll keep communicating. If you try something and then afterwards, you change your mind, just tell me.”

“Sounds reasonable.”

“I am sorry that you felt like I was embarrassed in any way. You’ve been nothing but sweet and kind. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Kurt ran his hand down Dave’s cheek. “All of this is new for both of us. We just have to not make assumptions.” He leaned forward and kissed Dave.

“And I’m sorry I didn’t just ask sooner. I didn’t think about you still trying to protect me once those guys weren’t at school anymore.”

“I’ll go ahead and ask this since we’re talking about not making assumptions. Are you still actually okay with the fact that I’m not ready to move past where we are? I know that a lot of guys break up with their girlfriends because they won’t ‘put out’ as the guys say. You’re not just saying you’re okay when you’re not, are you?”

“I’m not going to break up with you because you’re not ready. I mean, I’d rather you be honest and tell me if you don’t find me attractive in that way at all.”

“I do think you’re attractive and sexy, so it’s not personal in that I can think of some other guy that I WOULD be willing to have sex with if he just walked up and said, ‘let’s do it’. I’ve heard people refer to their ‘exception’ or ‘freebie’ in movies and stuff. Like there’s a person that the character would just automatically agree to have sex with if given the opportunity. I don’t have anyone like that. There aren’t any celebrities or people I know that I would just automatically agree to have sex with. But it’s not that my body doesn’t work or something. So, don’t think that. I can’t say when I’ll be ready because I just don’t know. I guess there’s always the chance that I won’t ever feel ready. But I think that would be a separate issue. I guess I can get my dad to take me to a doctor to make sure there’s nothing wrong with me. But I can understand if you really want that and I can’t give it to you that you wouldn’t want to stay with me. I could understand why you would want to look for someone who could give you what I can’t right now.”

“We’ve been together for a little over two months, which I have completely enjoyed. I’m not incapable of taking care of things myself. I’m not going to lie and say that I haven’t imagined what it would be like with you – touching you and other stuff. But I like you way too much to go looking for someone else just because you’re not ready yet. I’m not sure that I’m ready to go all the way. As long as you’re not just waiting around for someone else…”

Kurt interrupted. “No. Please don’t think that. I’m not just biding my time and using you. I’m not waiting for some gay Prince Charming to waltz into my life and sweep me off my feet into his bed.” Kurt kissed Dave. “It’s not like that. We’ve talked a lot. I’m just getting the hang of being your best friend. Well, I mean I know that Azimio’s your best friend, but”

“Stop there you said that the other day and we had to go to class. You are my best friend. Friendships change and Azimio and I are great … What’s the right word? I mean we are friends, but we’re like activity friends. I like to play basketball with him. I like to play video games with him. I like to do things with him. But If I had to pick someone to spend the day with in a room, it would be you, no contest. You and I talk. We don’t have to do something interactive to enjoy being together. You can read a book while I read a book and we enjoy that. We have similar GPAs, but you know so much more about everything than I do, but that makes it more interesting for me to learn more so we have more to talk about. It’s not like that with me and Z. He’s got my back and he’s my friend. But you’re my best friend.”

“Really?”

“Really. I’ve told you things I’ve never told anyone. I know we’re learning to trust each other. I think we’re doing pretty good at it.”

“I think we are. I’ve told you things that no one else knows about me as well. I’ve never trusted anyone except my mom and dad and I think I actually lost that ability when she died. Part of him died too, so I lost her completely and him partially. I learned that I could only trust myself, but I didn’t trust myself either because I was too little. I didn’t know enough. You say that I know so much more about everything than you. That was my only recourse I think. I was left to figure out so much on my own that trying to learn everything just became part of me. I’m glad you don’t hate that part of me. A lot of people do. I’ve been called a know-it-all or similar more derogatory things for a long time.”

“Well, you should know that I think smart is sexy.”

Kurt laughed.

Dave ran his hand down Kurt’s arm. “I’m going to ask you something and you can say ‘no’. Will you let me hold you? Can I wrap my arms around you and pull you close?”

“Okay.”

Dave rearranged a bit and opened his arms and Kurt moved and lay in Dave’s arms and let him hold him.

“I’m getting it more and more. You don’t trust. It’s not that you don’t trust me because I’m me. You just don’t trust in general. I know you’ve said it before, but I’m really starting to get it.”

“I trust you more than anyone but my dad. I’m trying.”

“I believe you. I can see it. I’m starting to get it. I’m not going to give up on you. I’m not going to pressure you. I’ll do everything in my power to be worthy of your trust.”

“I know I’m hard to deal with. I know I have a lot of issues. I can’t just wish them away, but thank you for not just giving up on me.” Kurt was struggling to stay awake.

“Sleep, Fancy.” Dave lay still and held Kurt until he was sound asleep. “I won’t give up on you. I love you too much to give up. One day, I hope you’ll love me too.” He kissed him gently on the top of the head and relaxed his hold a bit and Kurt stayed asleep. Dave got comfortable and fell asleep too.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The alarm went off early. Kurt went up and put the second turkey in the oven and went back downstairs and got back in bed with Dave. He scooted up close and laid his head on Dave’s chest. Dave’s roused a bit and smiled. He kissed Kurt on top of he head and Kurt squished closer.

Dave laughed. “Close enough yet?”

“Not quite.” Kurt wiggled a little more. “There.”   He ran his hand down Dave’s arm and interlaced their fingers. “The turkey is in. We can sleep for another hour and a half.”

“Mmm. Or if you’d let me, I could give you a massage.” He felt Kurt tense. “You can keep your clothes on. I just thought maybe you’re feeling a little nervous with so many people you don’t really know coming over today.”

Kurt didn’t say anything.

“Oh, I’m guessing you’ve never had a massage, right? I’ve had them from PTs and trainers.”

“I’ve never let anyone touch me. My dad gives me hugs occasionally, but they’re just quick. You’re the first person I’ve ever let touch me. Everyone else who has ever touched me, hurt me.”

“How about I start with your feet then?”

“Can we try it later? I’ll give it a fair trial, but I’m happy here in your arms.”

“Sure.” He smiled. A few minutes later, he felt Kurt’s breathing become regular and he knew he had fallen back asleep. He was beginning to realize just how much trust that Kurt had already extended to him. How much he had willingly stepped out of his protective shell to let Dave close.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

At noon, everything was ready. Nine people were sitting around the dining room table. Kurt started slicing up the turkey and putting it on a serving platter. Burt picked up the green beans and took some and started passing the bowl to his left. The other guys watched and picked up whatever was in front of them, took some and passed the bowl to the left. After the turkey platter got passed around and everyone had taken whatever they wanted, they started to eat.

Once everyone had eaten a plateful, Burt spoke up.

“It’s a Hummel tradition to state one thing you’re thankful for. I’ll go first. I’m thankful that Kurt kept nagging me to go to the doctor until I finally gave in. The medicine I’m on should keep my ticker ticking right for a good long time to come.”

Kurt smiled.

Paul was sitting next to Burt, so he went next. “I’m thankful that I’ve made a new good friend this year.”

Dave was next, “Hey, you took mine.” He elbowed Paul gently. “Burt didn’t say we had to come up with something completely different, so I’m sill going with – I’m thankful for the new friends I’ve made this year.”

Kurt was next, “I’m thankful that the people who were harassing me at school aren’t there anymore.”

Puck said, “I’m thankful I got invited today because Kurt’s cooking rocks.”

The other guys laughed and several of them said the same thing.

Burt said, “I’m glad everyone likes everything. I should have added that to what I said. I’m thankful my kid can cook because otherwise, we’d be eating Chinese or pizza today.”

Every laughed.

“There’s plenty more food. Help yourselves. You can take your plates into the living room because the game’s about to start, but please don’t eat sitting on the sofa. Once you finish eating, put your plate in the sink, and then you can sit on the sofa.”

Kurt added, “There’s pumpkin pie, brownies, carrot cake with cream cheese icing, and snickerdoodles for later. Grab whatever you all want for now. I’m going to put the leftovers in the fridge.”

The guys all refilled their plates and headed into the living room. Kurt put the leftovers away, washed the serving bowls, put them in the dish drain to dry, and he loaded up the dishes that had been left behind into the dishwasher and turned it on.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Puck brought his plate in. Kurt took it from him and rinsed it. He started a stack since the dishwasher was already running.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, sure. What?”

Puck walked into the dining room and Kurt followed him.

“Why did you do this?”

“The truth?”

“The truth.”

“I was hoping that some of the guys would see that I’m just a regular person like them. I don’t live in a big, fancy house with a pool or anything. It’s just a house. And I thought about what you said how you thought I was stuck up. I’ve been thinking about how that affected the way I was treated. Before Glee, I had no friends. I didn’t even have acquaintances. I was invisible. I told you that. But I’m not a girl and I don’t want to be a girl. My dad told me that I had to try to make friends this year. And I’m trying. I thought maybe if some of the guys at least liked my cooking and enjoyed my hospitality that I’d stop being invisible. I don’t have any crazy idea that I’m going to become popular and that a bunch of people will want to hang out with me. But I’d just like to feel like I fit in just a little tiny bit. I’m a good kicker. Maybe I can just be part of the team. I don’t need to be the center of attention. But having people acknowledge my existence in a non-hurtful way would be nice for a chance. I may be going about it all wrong. I just thought my dad is going to sit and watch all of those games whether he is alone or there’s a bunch of people. We have a huge TV. I thought maybe some of the guys would enjoy watching the games here if they didn’t have any place else to watch them.”

“Actually, you’re pretty cool. Dinner was great. I don’t think you’re going about it all wrong. Guys love to eat. I’m going to go watch the game.”

“I’m not trying to buy their friendship if that’s what they think. I just wanted to do something nice and yeah, go watch the game.”

Puck left the room. Kurt grabbed more dishes off the table. He moved the brownies and cookies from the kitchen counter to the table. He finished washing the serving dishes and dried his hands and headed back into the living room.


	8. Chapter 8

Once he had finished all of the clean up, he moved on to getting the remaining turkey off the bone and chopping it up. He put it all in a large stockpot and set it to simmer. He put a large pot of rice on to cook. He chopped up carrots, celery, and onions. He cleaned up while he waited for the rice to be ready to transfer to the stockpot. He added everything he had chopped, plus some fresh garlic, herbs, and salt. He set the heat to the lowest setting.

After the soup was assembled, he moved on to the sandwich fixings. He cleaned the head of lettuce and stacked the leaves on a plate. He sliced tomatoes and red onions as well and put them in bowls.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

He went in the living room and found Dave sitting on the floor leaning against the wall behind the sofa. Kurt sat down in front of him and scooted back until Dave spread his knees apart and Kurt could lean back against him. Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt, who ran his hands along Dave’s thighs. He closed his eyes and tried to relax. Dave kissed his neck.

“Mmm.”

“How can you watch the game with your eyes closed?”

“I can still hear. Close enough.” He got back up to empty the dishwasher when it finished. He put the dishes in the dish drain away as well. He grabbed the leaf-patterned dessert paper plates he had gotten and put them on the table and put all of the forks and spoons on the table as well so everything would be ready to use between the ending of the first game and the beginning of the second game. Once he had everything the way he wanted it, he went back into the living room. He reached down to Dave and pulled him up to standing.

“You know the small sofa that used to be in my room is still in the garage, covered with an old blanket over it to keep it clean. We could unplug the floor lamp and move the desk down all the way to the corner and bring the sofa in here.”

“Okay.”

After they brought it in, Kurt put the old blanket in the washer, and then went upstairs and got a nicer blanket to cover it with. He and Dave sat down together and Dave put his arms around Kurt’s shoulders. Kurt pulled his feet up and scooted closer and snuggled up against Dave.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When the first game ended, Kurt got up. “There’s dessert on the dining room table.”

Everyone got up and headed back to the dining room. Kurt came in behind them carrying the carrot cake and quickly left and returned with two pumpkin pies. They guys lined up and grabbed what they wanted and sat down.

“Dude, how do you not weigh like 300 pounds?” Puck asked.

“I don’t have much of a sweet tooth I guess. I like desserts, but just in very small quantities. I usually only bake stuff like this for holidays. And then I freeze what’s left and my dad spreads it out until the next holiday.”

“I think you should really consider the bakery idea or a restaurant,” Azimio said.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Several more guys showed up in the next half-hour before the second game was set to start. Kurt pointed out the dining room and quite a few of them helped themselves to some dessert.

Finn showed up about 10 minutes into the game. He sat in front of Puck on the floor. After a couple of commercials, Finn realized that there was dessert. He got up and went in the kitchen and then saw the doorway into the dining room. He went in and started piling stuff on two plates. He sat down at the table since he couldn’t carry both plates and his drink.

When he didn’t come back, Puck got up to go look for him. “Dude, that stuff’s like for all of us. This isn’t your personal buffet. Didn’t your mom make you anything to eat earlier?”

“Yeah. We went to my aunt’s house. That’s why I was a little late.”

“Well, stop being a hog. Kurt’s been cooking since like yesterday. Save some for everyone else.”

“Right.” Finn stuffed a bite of cake in his mouth.

Puck just shook his head. “Everyone else was polite and took like one of each thing, maybe two cookies.”

“It’s just sitting here. Stop ragging me.”

“Stop acting like everything belongs to you.”

Paul heard them arguing and went to see what was going on. “Something wrong in here?”

Puck rolled his eyes. “Finn’s acting like everything is his for the taking, like usual.”

“Oh. Puck does have a point, Finn. There are like 10 guys here. And people will be coming back tomorrow. I’m not going to ask Kurt to make more stuff. Just be reasonable. If you’re actually that hungry, there’s food left from lunch. You can have a plate of that stuff if you want. Just don’t eat all of the desserts. Let Kurt know if you want leftovers from lunch.”

Finn nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

Paul went back into the living room. Puck plopped down in a chair.

“I don’t need a babysitter.”

“I’m not so sure.”

“What’s your problem anyway? Why did you come? You tossed him into dumpsters.”

“Yeah, and I quit. I grew up. I apologized.”

“Fine. Puck, the saint.”

“Fuck off.” Puck got up and left.

Once Finn finished, he went back into the living room, but sat on the other side from where he had been sitting before. Once Kurt saw him come back in, he went to the dining room and put the pie and cake back in the refrigerator.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt got up about 30 minutes before he the third game was scheduled to start and he put two different types of bread out near the bags of chips and drinks people had brought. He put the sliced turkey on a platter, different kinds of sliced cheese on a plate, and he put all the fixings and condiments out as well. He put a stack of paper plates and napkins out too.

As soon as he had it all set out, Kurt called out from the kitchen. “I’ve got stuff for sandwiches or I also made turkey vegetable soup with rice in it. Come on into the dining room if you want some.”

Once everyone was in the dining room, he said, “If you want a bowl of soup, raise your hand.” He counted four. He went in the kitchen and brought back bowls of soup for the guys who wanted it.

He went back to the kitchen to make himself a bowl. He slipped into the seat next to Dave. He observed and listened. He saw Puck eying Finn’s plate with two sandwiches, a bowl of soup and a second plate full of chips. He looked around more. Everyone was talking about the game, which he had not been paying attention to.

When everyone seemed to be closed to finishing, Kurt said, “I moved the trash can to the corner,” he pointed.

It wasn’t long before the room was empty except for him and Dave.

“You can go back and watch the game. I’ll get everything put back up.”

Dave leaned forward and kissed him, and then went back to watch the second half of the game.

The guys headed back into the dining room to grab snacks and drinks during halftime of the last game. When the game was over, everyone headed home. Dave managed to pull Kurt into the garage so they could say their goodnights privately.

Kurt cleaned the living room and dining room up after everyone left. Once all the trash had been cleaned up and the food had been stored properly, Kurt headed downstairs.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After Kurt showered, he didn’t bother putting the futon down into its bed form. He grabbed his pillow and his blanket and stretched out in the dark in the silence. He ignored his phone when it pinged several times. He lay flat on his back staring at the ceiling.

An hour later, he heard the door to his room open and then footsteps.

“Kurt?”

“Dave?”

Dave walked over to the futon in the dim moonlight coming in through the windows. He knelt down next to the futon. “Are you okay? I texted you several times and you didn’t respond.”

“How did you get in?”

“Your dad gave me a key when I wanted to surprise you for our 2-month anniversary. I needed in while you two were at work.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“What’s going on?”

“After you left, I showered and I thought about everything that went on today. Other than being a nice thing to do for the guys who came for the meal, who I assume otherwise wouldn’t have had a nice Thanksgiving meal, the idea that I could somehow become one of the guys was just a silly one. It didn’t work. I didn’t engage in the games. I couldn’t talk to anyone when we had the desserts or when we ate before the third game. I couldn’t force myself to pay attention when I couldn’t tell any of the players apart. The guys know all of this information about the players and their teams. I can’t just all of a sudden know all of that stuff and to be perfectly honest, I don’t care. I don’t think I can force myself to memorize all of the stuff that they know.”

“Oh.”

“And I think I reinforced my feminine role more than I ever have before. I think I just stabbed myself in the foot. The guys who were here who say anything about me would probably just be talking about how I’ll make a good ‘wife’ or househusband or whatever. I completely took on the role of hostess.”

“It’s your house.”

“Hostess. Not host. I acted like the hostess. Getting food for people, prepping everything, being the one who cleaned up everything while the ‘men’ went back to being ‘manly’ things.”

“I see.”

“I know you helped me cook. I’m not trying to make it you like I did all of the prep because I didn’t. But I did all of the prep and clean up while everyone was here because I wanted you to get to watch the games because football is important to you, but what they’ll see is that I’m your girlfriend, who just happens to be a guy under his clothes.”

“I can see your perspective. I don’t know that teen guys who are hyped up about a football game and getting a lot of good food to eat will actually think about gender roles or whatever. But I see your point. If you were going to BE one of the guys today, you wouldn’t have been waiting on the guys. Guys don’t do that. I get that.”

“You were really sweet to come back over here when I didn’t answer your texts. I’m sorry I worried you.”

“You’ve never ignored my texts before. And I could see that you were upset when I left, but you didn’t want to ask me to stay after my dad said for me to go home with him.”

“That’s true. Our dads are really cool about letting us sleep over at each other’s houses and I didn’t want to go against what he said. Does he know that you’re here?”

“Yeah.”

“Can you stay?”

“I think so. I’ll just text him that I’m staying.”

“Help me put the futon down and we’ll make it up and lie down together.”

Once it was ready, they lay down and Dave snuggled up behind Kurt. It didn’t take long for Kurt to fall asleep.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next morning, Kurt rearranged and snuggled up to Dave.

Dave opened his eyes just a bit and smiled. He kissed Kurt on the forehead. “After you fell asleep last night, I lay here thinking.”

“About what?”

“About how you felt like you took on the hostess role yesterday. I think we should talk to your dad and tell him how you feel. I think maybe if you tell him, and you can get him to understand, maybe he will do those things today. And the guys will see that it’s just the way things are done around here. That you aren’t girly, but when two guys live together, someone has to do those things. Someone has to cook and prepare everything. Or they end up going out or ordering in every meal. We can talk to my dad too, so that the next time we do something like this and have it at my house – my dad can step in and take that role for the evening. And I can as well. So, it just seems like something that someone does. Not the girl or the most feminine guy – anyone can do it.”

“Okay.”

“And how about we put the small sofa back in the garage and we bring in the folding table and the chairs. We’ll play Uno and some board games while the afternoon game is on. I don’t really care one way or the other about watching the game.”

“Really?”

“Really. It’s two college teams that I don’t really care about at all. I don’t follow a lot of college football anyway. So, what do you think?”

“Sure. As long as you’re telling me the truth and you’re not just doing this because you’re trying to cheer me up.”

“I am telling you the truth, but what’s wrong with me trying to cheer you up?”

“Because that makes me look even more ridiculous in front of the guys. If you play games with me while a team you really like is playing, it’s likely that one of the other guys will remember you like the team and then they’ll think I’m acting like a girl and keeping you from doing what you want.”

“Get up and follow me.” Dave rolled Kurt over and got up. He went in the bathroom and brushed his teeth and Kurt did the same. Dave grabbed his hand afterward and led him back to the closet. “Get dressed.”

“Okay.” Kurt got ready quickly. He went back in the bathroom and did his hair. Cutting it shorter had been a good idea. It didn’t take nearly as long to fix it. He went back into his room.

“Let’s go. You can leave a note on your door.”

Kurt wrote, “Out with Dave” on a post-it note. He closed the door to his room and stuck the note at eye level.

They got in Dave’s truck and drove back to his house so that he could get dressed as well.

“I can’t believe you hopped in your truck barefoot with no coat and drove over at 11:00 at night just because I didn’t answer a few texts.”

“Eventually, you’ll see that I mean it when I say that I care about you.”

Kurt nodded. “I know you do.”

Dave reached over for his hand and kissed it before he let go. “You can wait right here. I’ll only take a couple of minutes.” And he was right. Less than five minutes he was back, this time wearing shoes and a coat.

He pulled out of the driveway and drove to Waffle House. He parked and went around waited for Kurt to come around the end of the truck and took his hand when he was close enough. They stood a few feet inside the door because it was fairly crowded since so many people were off from work and there was no school.

Dave didn’t let go of Kurt’s hand and they moved forward as people were seated. After about 10 minutes, the hostess showed them to a booth. Kurt sat down. Dave sat down on the same side of the table. Kurt laughed and slid in farther.

“What are you doing?”

“Sitting next to you for breakfast.”

Kurt shook his head and laughed. “What is it that we’re doing? Why are we at Waffle House?”

“I just said we’re eating breakfast. You may need to clean your ears out if you’re having trouble hearing.”

Kurt elbowed him gently. “Not what I meant and you know it.”

“She’ll be back soon. Better pick what you want.”

The waitress came right back and the two of them ordered.

“Alright. Why did you whisk me out of my room and out to breakfast after I said something about not wanting to be girl who keeps you from doing what you want?”

“Because this is what I want. I want you. I want to spend time with you. I like doing things with you. I was absolutely fine snuggling with you during the game whenever you were in the room. You know that I would sit with you if you wanted to watch something that didn’t appeal to me, although I’m not sure what that would be. Maybe a French movie with no subtitles since I wouldn’t understand what was going on very well. Not the point. You wanted me to do what I want. So, we’re out for breakfast and then we’re going to hit a few of the sales before noon when they end. I was thinking Old Navy or Kohl’s. I like the new jeans I got. I want to get a couple more pairs. And I want a new Bengals hoodie. So, wherever I need to go to get one of those.”

“I think Kohl’s has them. They carry the Ohio sports teams’ fan stuff. So, your idea for today is to go shopping with me?”

“Well, I can take you home after we eat and go by myself if you don’t want to go.”

Kurt laughed. “Of course I want to go.”

“Good. It will be more fun with you there.”

“Of course it will.”

“That’s better.”

“What?”

“Smartassy Kurt.”

Kurt laughed. “Sorry. Was I being ‘feeling-sorry-for-myself Kurt’ earlier?”

“Nope. You were being ‘I-care-what-other-people-think-instead-of-being-my-fabulous-self Kurt’ earlier.”

“I see.”

“Do you?”

The waitress came back with their food and sat it in front of them. They both started eating.

“I think I do. I’m trying to hard to not seem feminine or girly so that the guys will like me more rather than just being myself and letting them like me or not.”

“Exactly. I’ve been talking about how I’ve been getting over my need to pretend to be straight so that people will like me and I’ve moved so far away from that version of myself that I am sitting in a Waffle House next to you.” He leaned over and kissed Kurt on the cheek. “And you’re sliding the other way. Worrying that you’re being too feminine for the guys to like you. I know you want to make friends, but making friends based on you behaving in some way that’s not ‘you’ will just lead you to having to pretend all the time.”

“You’re right. But I still think your idea of having my dad play host today is a good one. And for you and your dad to do it if we ever have a group at your house.”

“I agree. But not because I want you to pretend that you’re something besides who you are, but so that the guys can see that men are capable of doing things for themselves. I get sick of guys talking about how they make their girlfriends do this and that because that’s women’s work. Showing the guys that men can cook, clean, and be good hosts is a good thing.”

“I get it.” Kurt stuck his fork into the bite of pancakes that Dave had just cut and stuffed them in his mouth.

“Good, aren’t they?”

“They are, but mine are better.” Kurt smirked and wiggled his eyebrows.

“I know. Trust me I know.” Kurt was still looking at him when he leaned towards him and he pecked Kurt on the lips.

“What made you think of Old Navy as a potential destination?”

“The jeans we got at the resale shop are from Old Navy. I have them on.”

“I noticed.”

“Of course you did.”

“Well, your new jeans show off your assets better than your old ones.”

Dave laughed. “I see.”

“No, I get to see.”

“Let’s go before this gets any sillier.” They left a tip on the table, paid at the register, and headed to the mall.

“Old Navy first?”

“Sure. Maybe they still sell this same style and it will be fast and easy.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

An hour and two pairs of jeans later, they pulled into the Kohl’s lot and parked.

“It’s still really crowded here.”

“They have huge Black Friday sales. Are you sure you’re up for this?”

“I’m sure. I’m big and brave and tough.” He flexed his biceps. “I can face a store full of tired bargain shoppers.”

“You say that now…” Kurt teased.

“Come on.” He leaned over and pecked Kurt on the lips.

They got out and Dave grabbed Kurt’s hand and interlaced their fingers. Once they were inside, Dave saw how long the line was.

“Oh, my God.”

“I told you. How about this? You get in line and I’ll go hunt down the hoodies. I’ll bring whatever I find to you in line and you can accept or reject them. If we find nothing, you can get out of line. But if I find one you want, you’ll already be a lot closer to the registers.”

“Deal.” Dave got in line.

Ten minutes later, Dave had moved forward about 30 feet. Kurt walked up with four hoodies.

“These are the only Bengals hoodies they have.” Kurt held them up two at a time.

“That one, definitely. It looks just like yours, except it’s really dark gray.” He took the one he wanted. “Did you replace that spatula the girls killed the other weekend?”

“No, but I’ll go see if they have what I want.” Kurt left the three rejected hoodies in the dressing room as he walked past. He looked through the kitchen area quickly and found a spatula he liked. He grabbed something else as he walked out of the kitchen gadgets area.

“Found one.”

“Good.” He reached for Kurt’s hand, but it wasn’t there. He looked down. “What’s behind your back?”

“Nothing.” Kurt bit his lower lip.

“Nothing, huh?”

“Then you won’t need this coupon my dad gave me that won’t actually work on the hoodie now that I read the fine print while waiting in line.”

“Coupon?”

“Yeah. $5 off anything that isn’t listed on the coupon as not eligible.”

“Can I have it?”

“I doubt that spatula costs $5.” He winked at Kurt.

“Fine, if you must know, that cake pan I’ve been wanting so badly is on sale half off.”

Dave smiled. “You can have the coupon.”

“Thank you.”

“Let me see it.”

Kurt pulled it in front of him to show Dave.

“Let’s make one this morning before anyone shows up to watch the game. Maybe you can drum up some more business. I bet you could sell them for $25.”

“Are you serious?”

“Think how much the ones at the grocery store cost and they don’t even taste good. They sell fancy slices of cake at the Lima Bean and Starbuck’s for like $3.50 a slice. That would make …” Dave looked at the package again. “12 slices.”

“Maybe. It seems like an awful lot to charge.”

“It takes time and ingredients. People know that.”

“We’ll make one today and see.”

“While you were gone, Z texted me. He’s bringing Mercedes with him to watch the game tonight.”

“Okay.”

“And she invited Artie and Tina to come over tonight after the game.”

“We should have thought of inviting Artie. I feel bad. He’s the only guy in Glee not on the football team. So, we’re having a triple date at my house after the game?”

“Maybe you should text Mercedes. She seems to be the one making plans. Sounds like she’s planning a sleepover.”

Kurt laughed. “She’s something. I better text my dad and see if he’s okay with all of it.” Once he got a text back from Burt, Kurt texted Mercedes. He stepped forward every time Dave did. When they were third in line, he finally put his phone back in his pocket. “So, we’re watching whatever movie Tina and Mercedes have picked out. Artie and Tina are riding back to my house with us in the Navigator so we have room for his wheelchair and both of them. Mercedes and Azimio are picking up Chinese and bringing it with them.”

They finally made it up to the cashier and paid. Kurt gave Dave $10 in cash to cover his part so they wouldn’t upset anyone for Kurt cutting in line. Kurt grabbed the bag, Dave took the receipt and the change, and they headed out to the parking lot.

“I survived. I think the trick to it is to have someone with you and a phone with WiFi so you can listen to music or play games on your phone while you wait for the other person to find everything.”

“We made a good team.”

“We do make a good team.” Dave unlocked the doors and they got in. “So, let’s go get whatever we need to make a cake.”

“I think all I need is the frozen cherries. We could buy canned cherries and save time, but I don’t think they taste as good.”

“Frozen cherries here we come.” He slid to the center and kissed Kurt, and then moved back over and started the truck up and drove to the grocery store.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt and Dave managed to get the cake in the oven and everything cleaned back up before the guys started showing up to watch the game. While the cake was baking, they talked to Burt and he understood the issues and he agreed to take over the role of host.

Kurt and Dave decided to leave the small sofa where it was and set the folding table up under the window. Kurt made turkey salad out of what was left of the turkey. He put it in a bowl and put the bowl in a larger bowl of ice to keep it from going bad while sitting out.

After the guys showed up, Burt started giving orders about where the food was, where they could eat it, and so on. He and Dave made themselves a sandwich, grabbed some chips and a drink and went and sat at the folding table. Kurt sat with his back to the TV. Dave looked up at the screen now and then during the game. A little before halftime, Kurt and Dave got up and took the cake to the dining room. When everyone came in, they grabbed plates and took slices of pie or the carrot cake or a brownie.

Azimio saw the unsliced cake. “Dude, what I gotta do to get a slice of that one? I been here plenty a times and I never seen one that looked like that.”

Kurt laughed and sliced a piece for Azimio, put it on a plate and handed it to him.

“Dude, this one’s got cherries inside? You gotta make me one of these for my momma for her birthday in three weeks. She’s always sayin’ nobody gets her nothin’ good for her birthday ‘cause it’s right before Christmas.”

“I can do that – for a price.” He winked at Azimio.

“Yeah. I know. Fancy cakes aren’t free. But I bet you charge less than that fancy bakery out by the mall.”

“Probably. Anyone else want a slice?”

Azimio answered, “They all do, dude. They’re just too chicken to ask.”

Kurt laughed and started putting slices on plates and passing them out.

“You should open a bakery or get a show on one of those cooking channels,” Strando said. “Those dudes make big bucks, I’m sure.”

“The cooking show could be fun. I’m not sure if I’d want to bake all day every day for my job. I do it for fun or stress relief. I’d have to think about it. Plus, I’m pretty sure if I had my own cooking show, someone else would have to do the dishes.”

“Amen!” Azimio said. “That is the WORST part of cooking. Not that I’m much good at cooking, but I hate washing dishes. If I was better at cooking, I could get out of doing the dishes. My momma makes whoever didn’t cook wash the dishes. I think we seriously need to sign up for Home Ec. But we have to get the teacher to teach us to cook normal stuff. None of that lame fancy stuff no one can pronounce.”

“You could go in and talk to her. Maybe she’d work with you on it.”

“Maybe.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After the game ended, they all made themselves more sandwiches or had some soup that Burt heated up. Afterwards, they headed to school to get ready for the game. They ran some plays and warmed up.

About 10 minutes before the game was supposed to start, the Cheerios did a pregame routine to get crowd on their feet and excited. The game finally started and it was a tough one. McKinley managed to pull off a win. 35-31.

Kurt was surprised when a man in a suit approached him after the game before he managed to get off the field. Dave saw him from about 20 feet away and he jogged over to where Kurt was standing because he saw Kurt tensing up as the man approached.

He extended his hand to Kurt and Kurt shook hands with him.

“I’m Martin Cromwell. I’m a scout from Columbia.”

“Columbia in New York?”

Mr. Cromwell smiled and nodded.

“You came all the way from New York?”

“I did. There are scouts from a lot of places here tonight. We’re making our rounds this weekend since there are Regionals Finals games all over Ohio and the State Semi-Finals start tomorrow. A team that hasn’t won more than a game or two each season for over a decade suddenly makes it to the Regional Finals – that’s big news in the college scouting world. And a kicker that hasn’t missed all season. That’s pretty much unheard of. I spoke to your guidance counselor before I scheduled my visit out here. Columbia only scouts student athletes that can survive the rigorous coursework. Your SAT scores, GPA, and fantastic season are a winning combination. I came to make you a conditional offer. Since you are just a sophomore, I can’t make a full offer yet. But the conditional offer is basically if you keep your grades up and you continue to do well as the kicker, we’ll be offering you a full ride to Columbia.”

“Wait. Are you serious?”

“I am. I’d like to meet with you and your parents or guardians tomorrow morning to discuss the preliminary offer.”

“Alright. Do you want me to go get my dad and bring him down to speak with you?”

“Yes, please.”

“Okay. Let me introduce the two of you first and I’ll go get him. This is David Karofsky. He’s my boyfriend. He’s our right guard.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Mr. Cromwell shook Dave’s hand.

“I’ll be right back with my dad.” Kurt took off to stands where he saw Paul and Burt still talking.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Will the fact that he’s gay be a problem?”

“Columbia doesn’t discriminate based on sexual orientation. I’m looking for someone to kick field goals and who can handle the coursework at Columbia. That’s it.”

“Okay. Just making sure.”

Burt and Kurt came back a few minutes later. “This is my father, Burt Hummel.”

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Martin Cromwell. You two can go change. We’ll talk here.”

Kurt and Dave headed off to the locker room, knowing that they’d have to wait until everyone else was done. They sat in their row waiting.

Kurt kept his voice low, speaking almost directly into Dave ear. “Why would he come when I won’t be going to college for such a long time. And Columbia? That’s an Ivy League school. I could get an amazing education there that we could never afford otherwise.”

“I think you should really consider it.”

“I will. But I doubt Columbia has a performing arts department. I want to be an actor in musicals on Broadway. But Columbia. Wow.”

“It’s really amazing.”

“I never even really considered playing a sport in high school until Brittany lied to my dad about me being the kicker.”

Dave laughed. “I know you want to go to New York City though. You’ll have to look up what majors they offer. It’s a lot to think about. I don’t think you can actually sign an offer yet though. I’m pretty sure you have to be a junior. So, you’ll have plenty of time to think about it.”

“Yeah.”

Azimio yelled. “You guys can shower now.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Sorry it took so long,” Kurt said.

“It’s alright,” Artie said.

“They make us shower either first or last and tonight it was last,” Dave said.

“I wish they’d just put doors on the showers,” Kurt said.

“My dad’s still working on it. The school board is a pain to deal with.”

“I think all bureaucracies are,” Tina said.

“The school didn’t even have a wheelchair ramp on the parking lot side where the buses drop students off. That’s should be a clue about how well the school board works.”

It didn’t take them long to get to the Hummel’s. Azimio and Mercedes were already there. Azimio got out and carried Artie in. Dave grabbed his wheelchair and followed behind. Tina and Mercedes grabbed the bags of food. Azimio sat Artie back in his chair after Dave set it up.

“This is the most accessible house I have ever been to besides my own.”

“I’m glad you’re comfortable here,” Kurt said.

“Food’s in the dining room,” Mercedes said as she came back into the kitchen to grab silverware for everyone.

Everyone headed in, grabbed what they had chosen, sat down and started to eat. There were still drinks sitting on the table from when the football team had been there. Kurt told everyone to help themselves.

“So, what are we watching?”

“Nope, it’s a secret. Once everyone’s in their pajamas, you’ll find out.”

They sat around talking and eating. He offered dessert and everyone turned him down until possibly after the movie.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After everyone had changed, Azimio put Artie in the corner of the sectional and Tina sat between his legs and leaned back on him. Azimio sat on the other end of the sofa and Mercedes cuddled into his side. Dave sat on the small sofa waiting for Kurt who turned off all the lights and then sat down next to him. Tina pressed play.

“ _Ella Enchanted_?” Artie said.

“Yes. I love this movie,” Tina said.

Kurt had grabbed one of the throw pillows from the sectional before he sat down. He put it in Dave’s lap and curled up on the small sofa and put his head down on the pillow.

Dave spoke really quietly. “Can you see?”

“Yeah, plus I’ve seen this before. It’s funny.”

Dave put his hand on Kurt’s side. “Is this okay?”

“Yeah.”

When the movie finished, Azimio said, “Well, that was a helluva a lot more funny than I expected it to be.”

Artie agreed with him. “It really was.”

They talked for a few minutes and then they heard the front door opening.

“Hey, Dad. We’re getting ready to go to sleep soon. The movie just finished.”

“That’s fine. If you need me, I’ll be upstairs.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next morning, after everything was set back to the way it was before they went to sleep, Kurt took Azimio into the kitchen.

“I’m going to give you your first cooking lesson.”

“Alright. What are we making?”

“Pancakes.”

“Sounds good.”

Kurt showed him the process of creating the batter and then gave him the chance to make his own bowl of batter. Kurt put two skillets on the stove and demonstrated how much batter to use and when to flip them over. Fifteen minutes later, everyone was sitting in the dining room eating pancakes and sausages, which Kurt had precooked the day before and warmed in the over during the pancake making.

“Good job, Z,” Dave said as he punched him in the arm.

“Why you gotta beat on me when I cooked for you?”

Dave just rolled his eyes.

“Now you can make your mom breakfast on her birthday. Just buy the precooked sausage links at the store and warm them in the oven. I cooked those yesterday, but the precooked ones are good. Just a little more expensive, but it’s your mom’s birthday. And just buy the good orange juice, the fresh-squeezed kind and you’ll be set.”

“Good idea. Now, you gotta make her one of those fancy cakes with the cherries inside.”

“Dave said I should charge $25, but it seems like too much.”

“Nah, that sounds fair to me. I looked in that fancy bakery by the mall once. The cakes there are more than $25. I’ll get T and Natalie to help me pay for it. They got jobs. They can afford $10 each and I’ll chip in $5. I’m gonna cook her breakfast, so they can give me a discount on my part of the cake.”

Kurt laughed. “So, what’s on the agenda for today, ladies?”

“Shopping,” Mercedes answered.

“Didn’t you just go yesterday?” Artie asked.

“We did,” Tina said. “But we’re still going again today. Yesterday, we went to the places that have the big Black Friday limited-hours sales. Today we’re going to hit places that are having all-weekend specials, like the bookstore and GameStop and stuff. My dad HATES to go shopping, so we have a deal. I go out and get all of his presents for the best price I can and he gives me $50. Plus I get $50 to spend on Christmas presents myself from him and $10 for lunch each day.”

“So, no surprises then?” Dave asked.

“My dad surprising me with gifts would be a disaster. No thanks. This is a much better deal. No one in my family knows about our deal, so he gets to come out looking good every Christmas because I know what everyone wants.”

“Seems like a win-win. You get money to buy presents for other people. He doesn’t have to go shopping and you get what you want for Christmas,” Kurt said.

“Exactly.”

“I’ve been babysitting and saving up, so I’m hoping to find good deals on what’s left of my Christmas list,” Mercedes said.

“I’ll call my mom to come get me and you guys can pick me up in an hour,” Artie said.

“I can just run you home while Azimio showers,” Kurt said.

“Sure.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt let Dave drive Tina and Artie to the mall. Mercedes rode with Azimio. Kurt planned to meet up with them at 11:00 at the bookstore.

Kurt rode with Burt to the Lima Bean to meet with Mr. Cromwell.

“All of this seems really weird to me, Dad. Why would someone scout someone as young as I am? I thought was the kind of thing that happened to seniors.”

“Some kids get scouted in middle school. I don't think they can’t offer anything in writing until next August. We’re just going to listen to what the man has to say. You can’t actually commit to whatever he offers until August. You have plenty of time to research Columbia before you make up your mind.”

“Okay.”

They rode the rest of the way in silence. Burt found a place to park and they went inside. Mr. Cromwell was waiting for them.

“Shall we get in line? Drinks are on me.”

“Thanks,” Burt said.

They waited in line, placed their orders, and waited to pick them up. They found a table and sat down.

“I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me this morning.”

“Yeah, sure,” Burt said. “So, what is it that you’re actually offering Kurt?”

“The potential of a full ride to Columbia. Tuition, fees, books, room and board.”

Burt looked skeptical. “That’s an awful lot to offer someone so young, isn’t it?”

“Recruiting players to an Ivy League school like Columbia isn’t an easy thing to do. Our student athletes have to be able to pass the admissions qualifications to the school and they have to be really good athletes on top of that. It’s not like a state school. The admission rate at Columbia is less than 6%, compared to around 55% at Ohio State. And state colleges have the ability to lower their admissions requirements for student athletes. Playing a Division 1 sport while performing at the academic level that Columbia requires takes a specific type of self-driven individual. I look for students who have the qualities that are needed to succeed both on the field and academically. I seek them out early to let them know about the academic programs that Columbia offers, so that they can continue to maintain their high level of academic work and athletic skills, allowing them to be the type of candidate to receive written scholarship offers.”

“I see. And what makes you think Kurt has those qualities?”

“I got the information from his guidance counselor who is currently the interim football coach. He took the SATs earlier this fall as a practice test. I was given those scores. His transcript shows the courses that he’s taken and his grades. And he works part-time as a mechanic in your shop and already has several certifications. She said that he worked on the costuming and had a lead in the show choir competition. These things all show dedication to detail and the ability to organize his time effectively. We have had experience with student athletes whose parents have the means to send them to Columbia and whose grades and test scores are amazing, but in the end those students had never done anything that require self-motivation. They were on a strict schedule that had been imposed upon them. Music lessons, tutoring, volunteering, sports practices and games. But when they got to the university level, there was no one to tell them when and how to do everything. Many rose to the challenge. Others were unable to and ended up quitting the team. We have found that sometimes reaching out to the unusual student who is thriving in less than ideal circumstances is a good choice for our team. People who have overcome adversity and who have good critical thinking skills make good players.”

“I see. I didn’t think you could actually scout anyone until their junior year.”

“I can’t officially. I was able to speak with you because I sent out a general letter to all of the schools that had made it to the Regional Finals games. When the coaches contacted me back, that gave me the ability to make contact with you unofficially. The most I can do today is offer Kurt this booklet about attending Columbia that lists potential fields of study, descriptions of all of the majors and the coursework involved in each degree field, and a history of the school.” He took a booklet out of his briefcase and placed it on the table.

Kurt reached for it. “Thank you. So, you are unofficially telling me about an unofficial offer to attend Columbia. At what point can you officially offer the scholarship?”

“September 1st, next year I can officially make a verbal offer, which will become a written offer that you can sign in early December of your senior year.”

“I see.”

“In September, I can tell you specifically what you will need to do to make sure that you receive a written offer.”

“Alright,” Burt said. “Is there anything else that you’d like to tell us or ask?”

“Not at the moment. There’s contact information in the booklet that Kurt can use to contact the school about any academic questions that he might have. I’ll be back in contact in September, provided that Kurt’s grades remain steady.”

“It was nice to meet you, Mr. Cromwell,” Kurt said. “I’ll read this booklet carefully and use the contact information, if I have any questions.”

“It was a pleasure to meet you as well.” Mr. Cromwell stood and left the building.

“Well, that was weird,” Burt said.

“It was, but it gives me a lot to think about. I’m going to read this whole booklet and look some stuff up online. I haven’t done any college research at all. Let’s get going. I don’t want to make everyone stand around and wait on me.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The Titans bid for the title of State Champion came to and end that evening when they lost 36-35. Everyone was disappointed, but they had done better than they had in any previous season in more than a decade.

Miss Pillsbury told all of the players to reassemble on the field after they had showered and changed. Kurt and Dave were the first ones out of the locker room and they decided to sit in the gym for a little while instead of sitting out on the field in the cold. Kurt took Dave’s hand and interlaced their fingers and smiled.

“Your house or mine or neither?”

“Definitely my place,” Dave answered.

“Okay.” Kurt turned and wrapped his other hand around Dave’s neck and turned his face gently and kissed him. You’re really good at blocking people from tackling Finn.”

“Thanks. I’m a much better hockey player than football player, but that’s not going to happen this year with everything that’s gone on.”

“I know you’re going to miss it, but I don’t miss those jackasses at all.”

“Yeah, me neither.” He leaned forward and kissed Kurt. “I’m getting use to you in the letterman jacket.”

“Really? It still feels sort of like a costume to me. I have found that the shorter haircut, paired with straight, but not skinny jeans, Chucks and the letterman jacket gets me better public acceptance. When I shop at the mall, or like when we went in GameStop earlier, I get offered help to find what I’m looking for or the sales clerks at least speak to me. I don’t get parents trying to keep their children away from me. It’s dumb, but interesting to observe.”

“I get the opposite. When I wear the green coat, my boots and the more fitted jeans, I get more attention in the stores than I did wearing my previous wardrobe.”

“That’s because you look like you know how to dress yourself and girls appreciate that and you get their attention because you’re good looking. But girls figure out that I’m gay really quickly in my regular clothes and so I’m of no real interest to them. And guy sales clerks stay away like I have the plague.”

“People are just so weird.”

“They are. We better head outside. I don’t want everyone to be waiting on us.”

They went out to the field and sat on the first row of the bleachers. Most of the team was there, but a few guys were still on their way out. Once everyone was seated, Miss Pillsbury spoke.

“I want to thank all of you for working so hard this season despite the challenges you’ve faced as a team. I’m obviously new to the whole idea of being a faculty advisor for a sports team, but I compiled the statistics that Coach Tanaka had kept and kept them myself since his departure. I want to congratulate our three seniors who were offered scholarships to play football next fall. Two to Ohio State and one to the University of Cincinnati.” She had the three players stand up. “This year is the first year for so much student involvement. The records will note that Noah Puckerman was the Student Trainer and that Azimio Adams was the Student Coach.”

Everyone clapped and cheered.

“And as I mentioned, I compiled all of the statistics and this year’s MVP is Kurt Hummel, whose field goal attempt and success was a perfect 100%. Several games hinged on his field goals. Since the school hasn’t done well in so long, I couldn’t find any precedent for having an awards ceremony or anything, but I would like to invite al of you to the Chinese buffet in town tomorrow at 12:30. You may bring your parents or significant others, but they’ll need to pay for their own meals. For winning the Regionals Championship title, you will all receive patches for your letterman jackets. I’ll need you to drop them off in my office on Friday for me to get those sewn onto your jackets. You all did a great job and I’m really proud of how hard all of you have worked this season. I hope I see all of you at the buffet tomorrow.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Everyone had gotten an email to meet 30 minutes before school Monday morning. Finn sang, “Hello, I Love You” and flirted with the girls in the club while he sang. Santana and Brittany approached him afterwards and asked him out. Rachel had already become overbearing and had freaked him out with his and hers cat-themed dating calendars. After accepting Santana and Brittany’s offer, Finn broke up with Rachel.

Monday afternoon Rachel brought a fierceness to her performance that shocked the Glee Club. She sang “Give You Hell” straight to Finn, making it pretty obvious that their dating had come to an abrupt end from Finn’s side. Mr. Schue chastised her for completing the assignment inappropriately. She didn’t seem to be the least bit apologetic and she left. No one else had a song with “hello” in the title ready to perform.

Kurt raised his hand.

“Yes, Kurt. I’d like to suggest that we all go organize the costumes for the rest of the hour.”

“Fine. Let’s head to the auditorium.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After school on Tuesday, the football team put their uniforms on and headed out to the field as Miss P had told them to the day before. She organized them and had them stand in formation and took several team photos using a tripod and a digital camera.

“Thank you all for coming. I haven’t been able to find any evidence that the football team had photos taken at the beginning of the season, so I wanted to make sure that we had some for the yearbook. I will also make these available to anyone who wants to print copies for themselves or their families. Just stop by my office and either bring a flash drive or a CD and I’ll transfer the files for you. Now, I want you to line up and I’m going to take individual shots. Puck step over and kneel here. Put your helmet here in front of your knee and hold the football in your left arm.” She helped arrange him a bit. “Do you all see the pose I want?”

Everyone nodded.

“Alright. I want the helmet to stay in place and the football passed to the next in line once I take the shot.”

She adjusted the tripod and started taking the photos. It took her about 45 minutes to get through the whole team.

“Thank you for your patience. As I said, come by my office and I’ll transfer the files to a flash drive or CD for you. You all did great this season.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

While the football team was having their pictures taken, Mercedes and Rachel headed to the music store. They split up after they got there. Jesse St. James found Rachel looking through a Lionel Richie book. He introduced himself, although they recognized each other. He took the book from her and sat down at the piano and sang “Hello” with her. Before he left, he asked Rachel out on date for Friday night and she agreed.

Mercedes stood back and watched the whole thing and as soon as Jesse left, she made her displeasure known.

“He’s the lead for Vocal Adrenaline. I smell a skunk.”

“He was lovely and sweet.”

“He’s a senior. You’re a sophomore.”

“He’s really good looking.”

“That may very well be, but he’s graduating in May and you have two years of high school after that.”

“Well, Finn broke up with me. And I’m going out with Jesse Friday night.”

“I don’t see how you’re going to get your dads to let you go out with a senior who lives 2½ hours from here. That’s a ridiculous amount of driving for him to take you out.”

“His uncle lives in Lima. So, he’s just going to spend the night at his uncle’s and go back to Akron on Saturday.”

Mercedes shook her head. “Girl, you are just asking for trouble.”

“Don’t tell anyone. I want to see how things go first.”

“Alright, but I’m telling you this is a bad idea.”

“I found my song for Thursday.” She was giddy with excitement.

“Yeah, I heard. Let’s go.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Thursday afternoon in Glee, Mr. Schue started the class by asking for a volunteer to go first. Of course, Rachel’s hand flew into the air.

“Alright, Rachel. Go ahead.”

She sang the Lionel Richie song that she had sung with Jesse at the music store.

Kurt put his hand up next. Kurt went down front and sat at the piano and began to play. He sang “Hello” by Evanesence.

“Wow, that was actually really good,” Santana said. “I didn’t know you could sing like that.”

“Me neither,” Tina agreed.

“That was really good, Kurt,” Mr. Schue said. “Good job. Who’s next?”

Dave stood up when Kurt got back to his seat. Puck followed him and picked up one of the acoustic guitars. He started to play and Dave sang Bob Dylan’s “If You See Her, Say Hello”. Dave received a rousing round of applause as well.

“Damn, boy. You sound good,” Mercedes said.

“Thanks,” Dave said as he returned to his seat. He sat down and put his arm across the back of Kurt’s chair.

Kurt leaned into him like he was going to whisper, but he kissed him right below his ear before he said, “I really like listening to you sing.”

When Kurt sat back up, Dave leaned over and said, “I thought yours was really good. And I love listening to you sing as well. Maybe we can find a 30’s or 40’s song to sing together.”

Kurt nodded.

“Anyone else?”

“Me,” Puck said as he swapped to a bass guitar. He started to play and the band joined in. He did a great job singing “Say Hello 2 Heaven” by Temple of the Dog.

He also got a lot of applause.

“Well, we’re just getting a lot of great performances today. You sounded great and the guitar solo rocked. Anyone else?”

Artie rolled himself to the center of the room and the band started to play. He sang “Hello Again” by The Doors.

“That was great, Artie. Very 80s,” Mr. Schue said. “Alright, then. That’s it for today. Remember next Monday we’ll be hearing songs from the 30’s and 40’s.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The following Monday, he and Dave stopped by Miss Pillsbury’s office with a flash drive. She transferred their photos onto it and returned their letterman jackets.

“The patches are cool. Thanks for getting them sewn on for us and for taking the photos.”

Dave added, “You were a much better football coach than Coach Tanaka ever was.”

She scrunched her forehead, but then tilted her head and smiled. “Thanks.”

During the period before lunch, Kurt got a note from Coach Sue delivered to him, requesting his presence in her office at lunchtime. He texted Dave, letting him know that he’d be late to lunch and went to Coach Sue’s office. He knocked on her door.

“Come in.”

He stepped inside the door.

“Have a seat.”

He sat where she indicated.

“Congratulations.”

Kurt looked confused. “What are you congratulating me for?”

“Well, I heard from our freakishly clean pseudo football coach that you’re this year’s MVP.”

“Oh. Thank you.”

“You’re also the newest member of the Cheerios.”

“What makes you think I’d be any good at cheerleading?”

“I want you to sing at Nationals. But you have to be on the team by Regionals in order to compete at Nationals.”

“I see. So, what is it that I will do at Regionals?”

“Sing, dance, cheer. The usual stuff.”

“I have no interest in wearing a Cheerios uniform to school every day.”

“We can come to an agreement about that. So, is that a ‘yes’?”

“Not yet. When do the Cheerios practice? I have a job.”

“Yes, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, from 3:00-7:00 and Thursdays from 4:00-7:00.”

“Correct.”

“You worked 4:00-7:00 the other two days during football.”

“Correct again.”

“I want you to convince Schuester to hold Glee for 30 minutes before school every morning and drop the afternoon rehearsals.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to have 2-hour rehearsals on Mondays and Fridays and 1-hour rehearsals on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Regionals is in four weeks and two of those weeks are school holidays and I can only hold limited rehearsals during breaks.”

“What’s in this for me? Sounds like a lot of practices and we still didn’t discuss the wearing of the uniform on a daily basis, which will NOT be happening.”

“What’s in it for you is that you get to be featured on national television. As for the uniform, I will agree to you not wearing it at school until after Regionals. If we win, you’ll wear it on any pep rally days and on Fridays. There are only 8 Fridays between when we come back from winter break and Nationals.”

“So, I’d wear the uniform those 8 Fridays and on pep rally days, but what about cheering at games?”

“As of right now, we don’t have a basketball team, so there’s no one to cheer for.”

“Alright. If the school suddenly finds a basketball coach, I will only cheer at home games.”

“The travel team is the elite squad. Why wouldn’t you want to try out for it?”

“You’re serious? I just started being able to walk around the school and not get dumpster tossed and slushied consistently. There is no way in hell I’m going to show up to the schools in this area where those jocks probably transferred to wearing a Cheerios uniform. You’re not adding me to the squad to be a lifter. You want me to be one of the cheerleaders. We don’t have any male cheerleaders. We have male lifters for the flyers and we have female cheerleaders. I won’t wear anything skimpy or feminine.”

“Like the women’s clothing I see you wear around school?”

“That’s different. That’s fashion and fashion has no gender, but cheerleading uniforms do. I’ll wear what the lifters wear.”

“Deal. I’ll order you a male Cheerios jacket. You’ll wear it on Fridays after break.”

“Fine. I have one more condition.”

“What’s that?”

“Stop trying to sabotage the New Directions. If you have something personal between you and Mr. Schuester, keep it personal. We’re students. Technically we’re children. As an educator, it’s your job to protect the students. Find some other way to annoy Mr. Schuester that doesn’t hurt us.”

“You’re a pain to bargain with.”

“I didn’t want to join the Cheerios. For some reason, you’ve decided that you need me. I need Glee. Type up our agreement and I’ll be back after school to read it and sign it. I’m hungry. I’m going to eat.” Kurt got up and left.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt texted Dave when he left Coach Sue’s office. By the time he got to the cafeteria, Dave had grabbed lunch for him and was waiting by the door for him.

“Let’s sit somewhere by ourselves. I want to tell you something.”

Dave led the way to the edge of the cafeteria and sat at an empty table. “What’s up?”

“Coach Sue wants me to be a Cheerio.”

“What?”

“I know. Totally not on my radar of things to do. But she’s promised me the lead in the musical portion of the routine for Nationals. And it’s televised.”

“Oh, wow. That would be cool.”

“I know. I gave her a lot of stipulations.”

“You negotiated with her? And she didn’t just throw you out of her office?”

“She has something up her sleeve that she needs me for specifically. So, I am what she wants, so she acquiesced. I only have to wear the uniform after winter break for 8 weeks on Fridays only and in the case of a pep rally. If the school hires a basketball coach soon enough for there to be a team, I’ll cheer at home games only.”

“That doesn’t seem too bad.”

“But she wants to hold 7 hours a week of practices. She wants me to get Mr. Schue to change Glee rehearsals to before school for 30 minutes each day. We could get more practice time in – 2½ vs 2 hours a week.”

“Yeah, but he added before school rehearsals for like a month before Sectionals. If we’re already meeting before school, he’d have to make it even earlier or make lunch rehearsals mandatory to get in more practice time.”

“That’s true. Or we could work harder to be prepared for Regionals ahead of time. Like choosing a set list before winter break. Getting to perform on national TV would be really cool though.”

“I know.”

“You won’t be mad if I do this, will you?”

“No. I’m not going to tell you what you can and can’t join. It’s just going to be a boring winter for me. I’m used to playing hockey all winter and it’s too late to join the team in Findlay. I did that before I started high school. But I couldn’t do both, so I opted to play here at school. Now that there’s no team and Coach Tanaka’s gone, it’s going to be a lot of dead time.”

“Maybe you could tutor. That would look good on college applications. You’re really good at math and everyone has to pass those state tests to be able to graduate. If you charge $10 an hour and take two people a day after school, you could make $100 a week. That’s quite a bit. But $10 is less than the tutoring center in town charges, I bet. Like you’ve been saying about my cakes.”

“It’s a good idea. I could tell Miss Pillsbury. Maybe students who are struggling tell her and she could send them to me.”

“It’s worth a shot.”

The warning bell rang. “Come on. I’ll go see her after school and see what she says when you go to talk to Coach Sue.”

“Don’t say anything to anyone about me possibly joining the Cheerios. I don’t want anyone else to know.”

“Got it.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt went back to see Coach Sue right after school. She slid the agreement across her desk. He picked it up to read it.

“If you cross out number three, I’ll sign it.”

“Why number three?”

“I got the impression that you didn’t want Mr. Schue to know that I was joining. If I ask him to change the rehearsal times before winter break, he’ll figure out that something’s going on when Santana and Brittany agree with me.”

“Fine. I’ll amend number three, but not cross it off. I’ll add ‘after winter break’ to the end of the sentence.”

Kurt looked it over again. “If you break this agreement, I will go straight to Dave’s dad.”

“I understand.”

“You sign first.”

She picked up a pen and signed the bottom. He took the pen and signed next. He took his phone out and took a photo of the signed document.

“You don’t trust much do you?”

“Not at all.”

“Good. So, we’re settled then.” She got up and handed him two uniforms in a Cheerios backpack. “Welcome to the Cheerios. The jacket will be here in a few days.”

Kurt took the backpack to his Navigator and put it in the back quickly and then headed to Glee Club. He went in the side door and took a seat as quietly as possible.

“Kurt, you’re late.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I had to stay after.”

“Where’s Dave?”

“He had to go see Miss Pillsbury before she left for the day.”

“Fine. Let’s get on with our assignment for this week.”

Kurt raised his hand.

“Yes, Kurt?”

“When will we be choosing our set list for Regionals?”

“After break.”

“I think we should choose the songs before break. You want to do these weekly assignments and I appreciate the fact that you want us to expand our musical knowledge, and it gives all valuable individual performance time, but if we spend both days each week allowing people to sing solos, we won’t have enough time to prepare for Regionals and I want the club to continue next year.”

“Fine. Everyone come 30 minutes early on Thursday and we’ll either have people perform then or we’ll discuss our set list. Now, we need to get started by listening to whoever’s ready to sing today.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Tuesday was Kurt’s first Cheerios practice. Santana greeted him and didn’t seem the least bit surprised by his presence.

“Those shoes will not work. Give me your phone.” She put the brand of the shoes in and took a picture of her feet with his phone. “There. Get some ASAP.”

He nodded. He put his phone in his Cheerios backpack and followed Santana out to the gym floor to stretch.

“Brittany and I are your personal trainers for today. Coach Sue told me to torture you until you break. But I figure that won’t be any good for whatever she’s got planned. But don’t smile or she’ll know that I’m not being tough enough on you. I just want you to sit across from Brittany and do what she does. The two of you are the same height I think. It should work.”

Forty-five minutes later, Kurt was practically running to his Navigator so he could change and still have time to eat something before he had to start to work.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The Friday before break was the end of his second week as a Cheerio and he had stretched and strengthened muscles he didn’t even know he had. He was exhausted after a 2-hour rehearsal. Coach Sue had handed out a practice schedule for winter break and they would be learning the song and choreography over break. He was excited to be heading home, despite how tired he was. He and Dave were going out for their three-month-iversary.

He headed straight down to his bathroom and took a nice long, hot shower. He dried and styled his hair and got dressed up the Western outfit he had worn for sectionals. He didn’t put the hat on, but he got it out. Dave had searched until he found a place about 45 minutes away that was having a family Western night including line dancing.

He headed upstairs to wait for Dave to get there. He saw Dave coming down the street and put his coat on and headed outside. Dave pulled up and Kurt got right in.

“You didn’t say whether to bring the hat, so I did just in case. I’m not imagining that this place is gay friendly.”

“Probably not, but I figured with line dancing, it’s mostly just what it says, dancing in a row of people, not with a partner. We’ll just play it by ear. I don’t want to get thrown out or anything. I just want to go have fun and do something a little silly. It’s been a long week with all your practices and finals.”

“I agree. Let’s just go have fun. If we can’t be a couple, we’ll just enjoy ourselves anyway and we can dance together and kiss when we get back.” He leaned toward Dave and they met halfway and kissed.

Dave pulled out of the driveway and headed out of town.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt slid into his chair at the table. “There’s more pairs dancing than I had expected, but this is still a lot of fun. I’ve never been square dancing.”

“I’m glad you’re having fun. Are we just going to sit here and wait for girls to come ask us, or are we going to rest of a minute and go ask them ourselves?”

“Let’s go ask them. Less chance of anyone thinking anything that might make them want to run us out.” He took a few drinks of his water. “Ready?”

“Yeah. How about those two? The one with the dark curly hair and the one with the light brown hair in a ponytail?”

“Sure.” Kurt followed Dave over to the two girls.

“Would you two like to dance?”

“Sure. I’m Nadine,” the one with the ponytail said.

“I’m Clarissa.”

“I’m Dave.”

“I’m Kurt.”

Nadine offered her hand to Kurt and they went out on the dance floor and stood on the edge for the next dance to start.

“I’ve never seen you here before.”

“It’s our first time. It’s fun. We’ll probably come back.”

“We don’t get a lot of high school guys. So, I’m sure you’ll be very popular. You’re a good dancer.”

“Thanks. Dave and I are in show choir at school.”

“That’s cool. Clarissa and I are cheerleaders.”

“Where do you go to school?”

“In Marysville.”

“We’re from Lima.”

“You drove quite a ways then.”

“We don’t have anything like this in Lima.”

“Our boyfriends won’t come with us, so we just ditch them and come by ourselves. They’re sitting at home playing video games or watching football.”

“We had enough of that a few weeks ago. We’re both on football team and I hosted three days of football game watching Thanksgiving week. And our football season didn’t end until that Saturday when we lost the State Semifinals game.”

“You made it a long way in the playoffs though.”

“We did.” The song ended and a new one was starting. “Oh, our turn.” He took her hand and they headed out onto the dance floor.

After the song ended, they switched partners and danced to one more song before they sat down again. A few minutes later, the dance floor was cleared and the line dancing started. A half-hour later, Kurt was laughing and had a huge smile on his face. They sat back down at their table, and not too much later their food was served. The band took a break while the meals were served and some country music played quietly through the speakers.

“This is a lot of fun. I’m glad you found this place. We’ll have to come back some time.”

“I agree. The food is good too. I know it’s a 3-choice menu, but it’s good. At least mine is.”

“Mine is too. After this, it’s just regular couples dancing, so I figured we’d head out.”

“That’s fine. We can read or watch a movie when we get back to your place.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt came out of the bathroom and put his clothes on Dave’s dresser. He walked over to the stereo and put in a classical CD.

“Is it okay if turn the light off?”

“Sure.”

Kurt lay down in the bed, covered up, and took Dave’s hand. “Remember at Thanksgiving when you offered to give me a massage?”

“Yes.”

“I’m ready to let you try.”

“You’re sure?”

“Mmm hmm. Just don’t tickle me, okay?”

“I might accidentally until I figure out how much pressure is the right amount.”

“That’s okay. I understand. Just don’t do it on purpose, okay?”

“Okay. Where do you want me to massage you?”

“Anywhere I guess? When you find a spot that hurts, you can rub that area.”

“Since I don’t have a massage table like the physical therapists do, can I straddle you so I can reach better?”

“Yeah.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave was in shock. Kurt was letting Dave touch him. He was cautious and gentle. Whenever he found a sore spot, he very gently massaged the area until the muscle loosened up. After about five minutes into the massage, Kurt quit flinching when Dave would move his hands either up or down to a new location. Kurt relaxed. Dave felt like he had won the lottery. Kurt was letting down his defenses and letting Dave closer.

Kurt fell asleep while Dave was working on his calf muscles. He chose not to continue on with his feet because he knew there was very little chance of being able to completely avoid tickling Kurt if he touched Kurt’s feet. Instead he just scooted up behind him and gently rolled him on to his side like he preferred to sleep and snuggled up behind him.

Dave spoke in voice so quiet, no one could have heard him. “Thank you for trusting me. I promise to do everything in my power never to lose your trust. I love you, Kurt.”


	9. Chapter 9

Kurt survived Saturday and Monday through Wednesday of 3-hour Cheerios practices each morning. Dave spent time in the weight room and watching Kurt practice. Afterwards, Kurt worked 7-hour shifts at the shop. Dave went home and played video games and watched cooking videos, secretly working on improving his cooking skills. Kurt worked the extra hours in the shop to help cover the hours for the guys who had asked off for the holidays.

Puck did what he was told to do and stayed out of Kurt’s hair when they had shifts that overlapped. He also went in early to do more bodywork on his truck. Kurt was surprised to see him so focused, but he was glad he didn’t have to continually check on him. Puck had gained a semblance of self-worth by paying his bills without breaking the law and was slowly paying Paul back for the initial parts Burt installed to get his truck running smoothly. The phone counseling was helping him quite a bit. He was working through a lot of his anger issues. He read through the information he had picked up at LCC when Paul had taken the four of them for a tour and did more research on the fields that seemed interesting.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Christmas Eve was the first real day of winter break for Kurt. He had four days off in a row before the Cheerios practices and long workdays began again.

That morning Kurt woke up in his bed with Dave’s arms wrapped around him. He scooted back and Dave held him a little tighter and kissed him on the back of the neck.

“Snuggling you is even better than I had ever imagined.”

“Well, then I guess it’s a good thing that I like being snuggled more than I ever thought I would.”

“We can snuggle as long as you like before we get up.”

Kurt took a deep breath and relaxed. Dave ran his hand along Kurt’s right arm and continued to kiss him on the back of the neck. Kurt shivered.

“Do you want me to get another blanket?”

“No. The kisses just gave me the chills. But don’t stop.”

Dave laughed. Kurt words emboldened him. He moved his hand up Kurt’s arm to his shoulder. He slipped Kurt’s baggy thermal shirt off his shoulder a little and kissed along the top of his shoulder and then back towards his neck and up to his ear. “God, you’re gorgeous.” He went right back to kissing along Kurt’s neck.

Kurt shivered again.

“You okay?”

“Mmm hmm. That feels amazing.”

“Good. I want you to feel amazing.”

Kurt wiggled a bit and slipped his arm into his shirt and in a flash, he pulled it over his head and then slipped it off his other arm, left it on the pillow above his head, and lay right back the way he had been. Dave was shocked.

“You stopped? Is it too much? Do you want me to put my shirt back on?”

Dave leaned forward enough to start kissing Kurt’s neck again. He didn’t know what to do with his hand.

“You can touch me. You can put your hand back on my arm or wherever.”

Dave put his hand back on Kurt’s shoulder, and then ran his hand down Kurt’s arm gently, leaving his hand over the top of Kurt’s. “You’re beautiful.”

“You’ve seen me shirtless lots of times in the locker room after games.”

“Yeah, but I was always on edge then. The guys were being reasonably decent and I didn’t want to upset the balance of them ignoring our relationship. I did my best to keep from gawking at you.”

“If this makes you uncomfortable, I can put my shirt back on…”

“Definitely not.” Dave was far too thrilled with the increase in Kurt’s comfort level to say anything else.

Kurt laughed.

Dave went back to kissing Kurt’s shoulder and neck. Kurt moved his hand and put it over the top of Dave’s and raised his elbow. He pulled Dave’s arm under his, kissed Dave’s knuckles, and then he positioned their hands so they were against his chest. They lay like that for a few minutes, but eventually the urge to kiss Dave became too strong and Kurt let go of Dave’s hand and turned in his arms and lay facing him instead. He gave him a quick peck and realized that a trip to the bathroom was next on the agenda, no matter how much it was interfering with his interest in kissing. He got up and relieved himself, brushed his teeth, and opened the bathroom door to find Dave standing there.

“My turn.”

“Hurry then.” He gave him another quick kiss. “You’re my personal electric blanket. I might freeze.”

Dave rolled his eyes, but he did go quickly. He splashed some water on his face, brushed his teeth and opened the door to find Kurt still standing there.

Dave looked at him.

“You have to get in the bed first or I’ll have to get out again anyway. Come on.”

Dave lay back down, scooted over, and turned onto his left side. Kurt lay down next to him on his right side. And as soon as Dave had pulled the covers up over Kurt’s shoulders, Kurt launched right back into the kissing he had started. He slid his arm partially out from under the covers and ran his hands through Dave’s hair.

“I was right.”

“You usually are,” Dave teased. “About what in particular?”

“How sexy your hair is when it grows out a bit.”

“Oh. I usually just kept it really short because of needing to shower so frequently.”

“I figured. It’s not really that long now, but I can run my fingers through it.”

“Which feels fantastic, by the way.”

“I figured that out by the moaning,” Kurt teased back.

Dave pushed forward and kissed Kurt again. “We’ve been talking about Christmas traditions. I want to add this to mine.”

“Lying in bed kissing?”

“Yep.”

“We do that fairly frequently.”

“But I want to make sure we make time for it. My mom would go nuts around holidays, cooking, trying to make everything perfect, relatives would come and we’d just be crazy busy, or we’d drive to my grandparents and it would be the same thing there. People were on edge, trying to make everything fit some schedule or plan. I’m not into the religious aspect of the holiday, but I’d like to celebrate the holidays like this – spending time with the people I love and care about without all that stress and craziness of spending hundreds of dollars on gifts just because it’s a holiday. I’d like it to just be simple and fun.”

“I guess I never really thought about it that much. I did hear other kids talk about going to relatives’ houses and stuff, and I was jealous, of course, because we never did that kind of thing. But I never thought about doing it every year. It would be like what we did here at Thanksgiving.”

“Pretty much.”

“I like your idea. Maybe one holiday a year could be like that, but not all of them. As much as I like being around people and performing, I’m think I’m an introvert. I know that seems crazy.”

“No, it actually doesn’t. I know I am.” He kissed Kurt again. “I just really like this.”

“Me too. I have another idea.”

“What?”

“Since neither of us has an religious attachments to this particular holiday, why don’t we wait and exchange gifts on New Years Day. And we just spend these two days enjoying our free time? Except that well, except that I want to give you what I got you, well part of it right now.”

“Okay. I’m fine with you giving me part of mine now. I’ll do the same.”

Kurt pulled his shirt under the covers. Dave raised an eyebrow.

“I want to warm it up before I put it on. I have to get your present and it’s cold.” He sat up and put the shirt on retrieved a gift bag from his closet.

Dave had gotten out of the bed right after him and was already sitting back on the bed waiting for him. He handed him a thin cardboard gift box. “You go first.”

Kurt took the box and opened the end. He tipped it and two DVDs slid out. “These are perfect. I loved the first _Night at the Museum_ movie. I haven’t seen this one yet. I did go see _Half-Blood Prince_ at the theater. I bribed my dad with breakfast at Cracker Barrel in order to get him to take me.”

Dave laughed.

“What? I couldn’t drive yet and I really wanted to go. I had only seen the others on DVD. I waited until it had been in the theater for a while and then I had him take me to the earliest show on a Sunday in Findlay. That way I was practically guaranteed to avoid any of the jocks that hassled me. He dropped me off, and then went and pigged out at Cracker Barrel. And then he went to some flea market for a while until he could pick me back up.”

Dave kissed the top of his head. “I never even thought about how all of that affected you so much. I never thought about what any of them did outside of school. I mostly hung out with any of them at lunch at school, practices, games, and the parties. If there were no parties on a weekend, sometimes Azimio came over and watch movies and eat pizza and stuff on Fridays or Saturdays, but over the summer, I didn’t really see the others much. I couldn’t drive yet and the upperclassmen weren’t really all that keen on playing chauffeur for us that often. They’d rather just hang out with their own friends.”

“That’s one of the reasons why I struggle with the letterman jacket. I don’t want to be associated with those jerks and how they behaved. I told my dad that none of the stores in the Lima Mall had what I wanted, but really most malls within an hour or so have pretty much the same stores. He just never paid attention because he doesn’t like shopping. He’d just sit out in the mall area while I went in stores and then just move down to the next benches or just wait for me in the food court. But with the worst offenders gone now, and the other major offender reforming after joining Glee, it’s less embarrassing to be seen wearing a letterman jacket. And seeing someone in one of them doesn’t just cause me to flinch anymore.” Kurt stopped talking for a couple of minutes and refocused. “I did NOT mean to get on this topic at all. The DVDs are great. Thank you. And we can watch them together sometime this weekend.” He sat the DVDs next to him on the bed. He reached to his other side and pushed the bag toward Dave. “This goes along with your idea, even thought we hadn’t talked about it. What’s in here is really for both of us. Just open it and you’ll see.”

Dave reached in and felt several things wrapped in tissue paper. He pulled out the first one and unwrapped it. “ _The Maze Runner_? I’ve never heard of it.”

“It’s new. Keep going.”

Dave unwrapped another one. “ _Leviathan_?”

“Also a new release.”

“ _David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants_.”

“Also a new release that looked interesting.”

“ _Witch and Wizard.”_

“Seemed like it might be interesting. I got four different genres just for the variety. The ones at the bottom that aren’t wrapped are books I already had that I really like that you haven’t read. I thought you could loan me a few of your books that you really like that I haven’t read. It goes along with what you were thinking. Just spending time relaxing. I know it’s weird that it’s kind of a mutual gift, but I hope you like it.”

“I do. It’s actually a cool idea. And it does fit perfectly with my idea.” Dave picked up _Leviathan_. “Pick one.”

Kurt chose _The Maze Runner_. Dave put the other books back in the bag and handed it to Kurt. He put the bag on the floor next to the futon. He put the DVDs on top of the books.

“We need some kind of bolster. Or an ottoman.”

“Interesting idea. Maybe I could build an ottoman.”

Kurt readjusted the way he was sitting from criss-cross to kneeling on the bed. He put his hands on Dave’s shoulders and pushed him so he flopped onto his back. Kurt moved his hands so they were above Dave’s shoulders, next to his face. He leaned down and kissed Dave, licking at his lower lip, and Dave quickly got over being startled and kissed back passionately.

When they broke apart for air, Dave said, “Damn, if I knew offering to build you furniture would get you that turned on, I’d have offered a long time ago.”

Kurt rolled his eyes and started kissing him again. He kissed up his neck. “I already really wanted to kiss you earlier, and then you said you wanted to spend holiday mornings kissing.”

Dave said, “I have the best ideas sometimes.”

“Mmm hmm.”

Two raps on the door to Kurt’s room sounded, followed by Burt opening the door and stepping onto the upper landing. Kurt pushed back up and sat down where he had been. Dave sat back up. They turned and pulled the covers back up over their legs.

“Morning, boys.”

Kurt and Dave responded simultaneously.

“Morning, Dad.”

“Morning, Burt.”

Burt stopped on the lower landing and sat down. “So, plans for today?”

“Umm, reading. Kurt got me books.” He held up the book for Burt to see.

Kurt showed him the one he was planning to read. “I went to the bookstore and bought four new releases and we’re going to read them over break.”

Burt laughed. “You two might just be the weirdest teenage boys I’ve ever met.”

“Da-ad!” Kurt harrumphed in a two-syllable tone of aggravation.

“What? It’s true.”

“That may be true. BUT… We haven’t knocked up any girls. We haven’t stolen anything, started any fights, or vandalized anything. We got our grade reports and we both got straight A’s.”

Burt just laughed more. “You’re right. Keep being weird. I like weird.”

“I thought so.”  

“We’re going out to Cracker Barrel for brunch at 11:00. We’re taking the Nav so we can all fit.”

“We’re going out of town for brunch? I could just cook for everyone.”

“Nope. Be ready at 10:30.”

“Alright.”

“Dress casual.”

“To go out to brunch?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re the weird one. I hardly ever go out and you want me to go ‘dressed casual’.”

“You got it. Be upstairs ready to go at 10:30.” Burt stood up and went back upstairs.

Once he heard the door at the top of the stairs close, Kurt said, “He’s up to something.”

“Why’s that?”

“He specifically doesn’t want me to dress up. So, we’re going to do something I will consider messy at some point.”

“Relax. I’m sure it’s something fun.”

“I don’t deal well with surprises and he knows that.”

“So, it must be something that he’s certain that you’ll like. He wouldn’t plan something on a holiday that you would hate.” He handed Kurt the book he was holding and Kurt put both books back in the bag on the floor next to the futon. Dave scooted back down in the bed and extended his arm for Kurt to lay on his chest and snuggle up. “Come on. Snuggle with me.”  

Kurt slid under the covers. “You’re probably right. I’ll try to relax.” Kurt scooted over to Dave and kissed him gently and then laid his head on Dave’s chest. “I can hear your heart beating.”

Dave wrapped his arm around Kurt and kissed the top of his head. They lay there in silence for a while.

“What time is it actually?” Dave asked.

Kurt turned over and picked his phone up off the sewing table that he could barely reach. “9:17.”

“So, we have a little while before we have to get ready.”

“Maybe 30 minutes because I have to figure out what on earth to wear out to brunch that’s casual, but looks fabulous.”

“Of course. And me?”

“You can wear the jeans and the flannel shirt you brought and look casual and sexy.”

“In flannel?”

“Yep.”

“Wear whatever you like because when you feel good in what you wear, you are super sexy.”

“Is that so?” Kurt asked seductively. He scooted up enough that he could kiss Dave.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

At 10:30, they were sitting the backseat of the Navigator. Kurt slid to the center position so he could sit close to Dave. They drew designs and shapes on each other hands on the 30-minute drive to the restaurant. Once they were here, they added their name to the queue.

All four of them looked around the store while they waited. Dave found a small set of metal puzzles that he thought would be good for the $5 gift Dirty Santa gift exchange the Glee Club was having New Year’s Eve. He figured if no one ended up wanting the set, that he would have fun with it himself.

After they finished eating, they all piled back into the Nav and Burt set off to the unknown destination. Kurt was tense, but Dave held Kurt’s hand. Burt turned on a pop station that was playing Christmas hits all day. Dave and Kurt sang along to the radio.

“The mall? We’re going to the mall in Toledo and you told me to dress casual? This doesn’t make any sense.”

“Just go with it, kiddo.” We’re going to give the two of you an hour in here. We’ll be back at this entrance – Entrance C – in an hour.” Burt and Paul handed two $50 bills to each of them. “Get whatever you want for yourselves.”

Paul added, “You know I’m a terrible gift giver, David. Even if I pick something you’d like, I’d get the wrong size or something. Or I’d buy something you already have. So, go have fun. When we pick you up, we’re going somewhere else.”

They put the cash in their wallets, left their jackets behind, and made a beeline for the mall entrance door.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

An hour later on the dot, Burt and Paul pulled up and Kurt and Dave hurried out and got in.

“What on earth is in those huge bags?” Burt asked.

“They’re for Dave’s bed so we can read easier.”

“So, they’re some kind of pillows?”

“Yep. We’ll show you when we get home.”

“Alright then.” Burt pulled off and headed to their final destination, which was just down the street.

“What’s Dave and Buster’s?”

“You’ll see. Leave your coats again.”

Kurt and Dave took off jogging. They stepped inside and waited for Burt and Paul in the space between the two sets of doors.

“This looks like fun. It says 18 and up though.”

“You can get in with a parent. Let’s go in,” Paul said.

Burt and Paul paid and they all put their wristbands on.

“So, these get you all-you-can-eat wings and a drink. And you can play all of the games. We’ll be in the bar. Text one of us if you need something,” Burt said.

Dave and Kurt went to look through the huge arcade.

“Now I see why he said to dress casual. How about PacMan?”

“Sure.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Five minutes and we’re going home,” Burt said as Kurt and Dave ran up the stairs to put the pillows in Dave’s room.

They put the bags down and Kurt wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck. He stepped as close as he could get and hugged Dave. “Have you noticed anything?”

Dave pulled back a bit to look at him. He had a dumbfounded look on his face. “What could you have changed while we were riding back from Toledo?”

“Look at my shoes.”

“You’re wearing Chucks.”

“Umm hmm. And what am I not doing?”

“You’re not kissing me and we’re running out of time,” Dave teased.

Kurt pressed forward and kissed him. “Better?”

“Much.”

“No more time for guessing. I’m not standing on my tip toes.”

“You grew.”

“I did. A lot of my pants are too short, but I’m not going to get new ones just yet. I’ll just wear the ones I have tucked in my boots for now because I might grow more and I don’t want to waste money.”

“Good plan.” Dave kissed him. “If you get taller than me, that would be weird, but I guess I’d have time to get used to it because it wouldn’t happen overnight.”

“The doctor said that I’d probably be like 5’11 at some point. So, not as tall as you.”

“Kurt!”

“Gotta run.” Kurt kissed him. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next day Dave arrived at the Hummel’s before lunchtime. He rang the doorbell and waited for Kurt to answer the door.

“You’re adorable!” Kurt said. “The Santa hat is awesome.” He stepped back, letting Dave step in far enough to let the storm door close. Kurt kissed him gently before he helped him out of his coat and hung it in the closet. “What’s in the bag?”

“You’ll see.” He kissed Kurt quickly and headed into the kitchen. He put the bag down on the counter and began emptying it onto the counter. “I know your dad is grilling, but I also know that steak and baked potatoes is not your favorite meal. I don’t know if this will be either, but I hope you like it.” He put an insulated baking dish carrier on the counter along with a lot of small storage containers with lids.

“What is it?”

“You’ll see. Where’s your dad?”

“Upstairs getting ready.”

Dave backed Kurt up to the counter and wrapped his arms around him. Kurt wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck and kissed him. After a few minutes, Dave attempted to step back, but Kurt whimpered a tiny bit and kept his hold around Dave’s neck.

Dave smiled. “Come on, Fancy. We’ve got lunch to serve.”

Kurt pouted.

Dave laughed. “You think that’s going to work?”

Kurt shrugged just a tiny bit and stuck his lower lip out a little more.

Dave rolled his eyes and kissed him. “Come on. You know your dad will fuss at us for making out in the kitchen.”

Kurt kissed him one last time. “What’s in all these bowls?”

“All the salad toppings I chopped up.”

“Really?”

“Yep. I’ve been chopping and chopping and chopping.”

“Thank you.”

“Anything for you. You know that.”

Kurt blushed. He did know, but he did his best not to take advantage of it, other than in silly ways like getting more kisses.

Dave took one more thing out of the bottom of the sack. He sat it on the counter and unfolded it.

“Oh, the bowls fit in the wire rack. That’s really cool.” A square bowl about the size of a dinner plate sat in the center and along the front edge and to the sides the 8 smaller square bowls fit in the wire rack. “It might be easier to set it up in here and fix our salads on the way into the dining room.”

“That’s fine.”

They worked together and got the lids off and Kurt arranged the chopped vegetables in the stand. “This is really cool. It keeps everything together and lets people choose. Where did you get this?”

“I ordered it online.”

“Well, I like it.”

Dave smiled. “I made two types of salad dressing.”

“Wait. You made these? Oh, I guess I hadn’t noticed that the bottles didn’t have labels on them.”

“I used the bottles from the store-bought dressing.”

Kurt started to unzip the insulated casserole bag.

“Hey, no peeking.”

Kurt left it alone.

“This is exciting!” Kurt bounced up onto his toes. He turned and bear-hugged Dave. “You went to a lot of trouble and you’ve been learning to cook. I can’t wait to taste it.”

“Taste what?” Burt asked.

“Whatever is in that casserole that Dave won’t let me see.”

Burt laughed. He noticed the salad. “That’s a cool set up. Not that I like salad much, but it’s still cool.” Burt opened the fridge and grabbed the steaks and went through the dining room out to the deck to stick the steaks on the gas grill. He came back in quickly. “It’s warm for the time of year it is, but not that warm.” He tossed the steak package in the trash, went into the foyer and grabbed a coat out of the closet, and grabbed a plate and the tongs on his way back outside.

“He doesn’t seem fazed by us at all anymore. I didn’t even get ‘the look’ for you being all wrapped up in my arms.”

“He’s over it. He mostly only did it to embarrass us. He’s a big tease. Once we quit blushing and stammering, it took the fun out of teasing us.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Well, that was really good, if I do say so myself,” Burt said.

“I agree,” Kurt said. “Dave’s 7-layer Southwest-style casserole was fantastic. And I like both of those salad dressings.”

Dave blushed a bit and smiled. “Wait here. I’ll go get dessert.”

“You brought dessert?” Burt asked. “I figured we were having ice cream since I didn’t see Kurt making anything this morning.”

“So did I, but that’s because Dave told me not to make anything, so I figured that he was bringing ice cream.”

“Not ice cream, but I left it in my truck since it’s cold enough outside.” He hurried outside and came back in with a cake carrier. He sat it on the counter, opened it, grabbed a long thin knife, and carried the dessert and knife into the dining room.

Kurt looked up when he came in. “Oh, my God. You made that?”

“I did.”

“It’s a turtle cheesecake with a chocolate cookie crust?”

“It is.”

Kurt grabbed a dessert plate and slid it down next to the cheesecake. “May I please have a piece of that most gorgeous cheesecake?”

“Of course.” Dave sliced it into 8 pieces and served everyone a slice.

Kurt took a bite and moaned. “If heaven’s real, this is served there for every meal.” He closed his eyes as he put the second bite into his mouth. He continued to carefully place each bite in his mouth and relish the flavor of every bite.

Burt and Paul did their best not to laugh at him and just focused on eating their own piece. Once everyone had finished, Dave took the leftover cheesecake back and put it back in the carrier and put it in the fridge. Kurt got up and started putting the dishes in the dishwasher.

Burt and Paul stayed seated in the dining room.

Burt spoke very quietly where Kurt couldn’t hear him. “We might as well start planning for the wedding.”

Paul laughed.

“If you think I’m joking, I’m not. Your son just spent his winter break learning to cook to impress my son. He loves Kurt. There is no other explanation. He could have been sleeping all day, playing videos games, whatever. But no, he spent the time doing something to impress the boy he loves.”

“They’re too young.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Kurt came back in the room with Dave following along behind him. “Do you want to leave all of the salad toppings in the little bowls?”

“Nah. Since the leftovers are yours and you like everything, let’s just toss is all in and make a chopped tossed salad out of it.”

They dumped all of the toppings in. Dave took the empty bowls to the kitchen and brought back the lid for the center salad bowl. Kurt put it on and picked the bowl up and shook it. Dave folded up the wire server. They left the dining room and finished up cleaning the kitchen.

Paul smiled and shook his head. “You may be right. Three months ago, he could make macaroni and cheese and cold sandwiches. He makes really simple dinners for us now, but what he made today took a lot of time and effort.” He took a deep breath and let it out.

“I called them both weird yesterday when I went downstairs and they were sitting in Kurt’s bed getting ready to read the books they got each other for Christmas.”

Paul laughed. “They are weird. Let’s go watch stuff get blown up. I can’t take anymore mushy gushy talk about my teenage son being in love.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Once they finished with the kitchen, Kurt and Dave headed down to Kurt’s room. Dave sat down on the futon. Kurt waited for him to get comfortable and then sat down on his lap facing Dave. He ran his hand down Dave’s cheek. “Where did you learn to make the dishes you brought?”

“Well, while you were at the shop all day long, I, um … mayhavewatchedabunchofcookingvideos.”

“I missed that.”

Dave sighed.  

Kurt laughed and kissed him gently. He ran his hands down Dave’s shoulders to his hands and took them and intertwined their fingers. “A little more slowly this time.”

“While you were at the shop, I watched cooking videos. I made my selection and then watched the videos like five times each to make sure I would do it right. Then, I went out and bought the ingredients and made them, while watching the videos and pausing when I needed to.”

“That is the most romantic thing ever. You are so sweet to me. Thank you. Everything was delicious.”

“I’m glad you liked it so much.”

Kurt stood back up, and grabbed a pillow. “Will you lie down? I want to snuggle, if that’s okay.”

Dave turned and lay down on his back. Kurt put a pillow under Dave’s head.

“Hmm. Scoot to the front edge of the futon a bit.”

Once Dave moved, Kurt went in the closet and came back with a rolled up blanket and put it along the back edge between Dave and the back of the futon. He also brought the comforter back out and unfolded it and laid it out along the back edge of the futon. He turned some classical guitar music on and went back to the futon and lay down so that he was partially on the rolled blanket and partially lying on Dave. It took a couple of minutes of maneuvering to get in a comfortable position. They shut their eyes and lay together, enjoying the closeness.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“What are you thinking about?”

“Two totally different things.”

“Such as?”

“Well, my mind was wandering places it didn’t need to go and I forced myself to think of the opposite type of thing and then Rachel and Jesse came to mind.”

“Rachel and Jesse?”

“Yeah. It’s just really weird. Why on earth would the lead singer for Vocal Adrenaline be willing to set aside his chance for a fourth consecutive national title to date a 15 year old? Well, I guess she’s 16 by now, but still. She was saying something about her birthday being during Hanukah.”

“Who would willingly attend a high school like McKinley when they go to Carmel in Akron? That’s nuts. Who transfers their last semester of high school to be with someone they randomly met two weeks before they transfer?”

“It really makes no sense at all.”

“They’re looking at long distance for a long time unless he’s going to college in Columbus or Toledo and that would make it a shorter long distance situation. I mean he’s attractive and talented, but the whole thing makes no sense. And now we have an even more unbalanced group. We really need some more girls. Anyway, what were you trying NOT to think about?”

Dave didn’t answer right away, but then quietly said, “Youwithoutyourshirt.”

Kurt tipped his head up and when Dave felt him moving he turned his head to the side to look him in the eyes. Kurt batted his eyes, in a completely ridiculous way.

“Oh, really? Maybe it’s your turn to be shirtless.”

“You want me to take my shirt off?”

“Yeah.” Kurt blushed.

“Seriously?”

Kurt pushed up just enough that he could kiss Dave. “Mmm hmm.”

“Raise up then.”

Kurt propped up so that Dave could move his arm and pull his shirt off. He lay back down, pulled the comforter back over them, and Kurt got comfortable again, except he kept his left arm on top of his own body instead of across Dave’s chest.

After a couple of minutes, Dave turned and looked at him again. “Are you sure this is what you wanted? You’re acting like I have cooties now.”

“I didn’t … I don’t …”

“Hey, it’s okay.” He kissed Kurt on his forehead. “I can put it back on.”

“It’s not that. I just don’t know what’s okay.”

“How about this? We’ll stick to you can touch anywhere that’s not cover with clothing?”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m very, very sure.”

Kurt moved his arm and laid it across Dave’s chest the way he most often put it when they were snuggled up in that position. He moved his hand slightly, rubbing it against the hair on Dave’s chest.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. You’re just really …”

Dave turned and tipped Kurt’s chin up and kissed him gently. “What? Really what?”

“Hot.”

“Oh.”

“Were you expecting me to say something else?”

“I wasn’t really expecting anything, but I’ve never thought of myself as attractive.”

“Well, me neither, but you think I’m hot, so you’ll just have to trust my judgment. You’re sure about me touching you?”

“I’m positive. It’s on my Top 2 List of things to dream about.”

“And the other thing that makes the top 2?”

“Me touching you.”

“I see.” Kurt blushed. “If the other guys at school look like you do with their shirts off, it’s no wonder they call me a girly-boy and the other things.”

“Oh, no. A few of them might have a tiny bit of chest hair and might be able to grow a mustache, but I’m definitely the odd one out. Hudson led the charge on teasing me when I starting going through puberty before all of the other guys.”

Kurt had closed his eyes and focused on his sense of touch. “He should keep his mouth shut. He’s just jealous – with good reason.”

“Probably. I DO have the hottest boyfriend in the whole school.”

Kurt burst out laughing. “I don’t think he’s going to think that.”

Dave kissed Kurt. “His loss.”

“I’ve wondered more recently if he’s actually more homophobic than Puck. I always thought he held my jacket and bag to be nice, but sometimes I wonder if he did it to keep from having to touch me at all.”

“Enough of that. We’re snuggling on a holiday.”

“You’re right. I have a totally hot shirtless guy in my bed. That should definitely be my focus.”

Dave laughed.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After resting and relaxing for four days, it was time to return to work. Dave worked out in the weight room in the mornings for a while during Cheerios practice. He stopped by and watched them practice for a while before he left.

Dave spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday afternoon secretly building the ottoman for Kurt’s room. Monday, he went to the Hummel’s while Kurt was still at Cheerios practice and took measurements. He grabbed the leftover stain from when they restained the futon framed and took it with him, and then he headed to Lowe’s for supplies. He took in a rough drawing and the guy who worked in the wood section helped him figure out what all he needed. He took everything back to his own house and worked on it each afternoon.

While Kurt was at the shop on Thursday, Dave took the ottoman to Kurt’s room and put it under the futon to surprise him on New Year’s Day. He had decided to keep the other gift he had gotten for Kurt and give it to him as an early Valentine’s Day present. From there, he went straight to Sam’s Club to pick up pizzas for their New Year’s Eve party that evening. Kurt went directly to Dave’s house when he got off. He showered quickly and changed into the clothes he had left at Dave’s.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt went downstairs after he was ready. Dave was in the kitchen getting the paper plates and stuff they needed out. Kurt walked up next to him, turned, and hopped up onto the counter. He spread his knees apart.

“Is that an invitation?”

“Definitely.”

Dave stepped closer to Kurt and stood in the space Kurt had made for him. Once Dave got close enough, Kurt wrapped his feet around Dave and pulled him flush against his chest and wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck. “Hi.”

Dave smiled. “You’re a monkey. All wrapped around me like this.”

“Is that so?” Before he could say anything else, Kurt pressed his lips to Dave’s gently, and then laid his head on Dave’s shoulder. “I’m exhausted. I may not make it until midnight. Dad moved me to doing tire changes because we had so many people who wanted them. He called Puck in to help me.”

“How about a massage tonight?”

“Yes. Please. Yes. How about you put those on the table and we go lie down on the couch and I take a nap on you?”

“What do I look like, a teddy bear?”

“Mmm hmm. My lifesize teddy bear. Perfect for snuggling.”

“You’ll have to let go of me for us to go in there.”

Kurt harrumphed and let his feet and arms drop. Dave picked up the paper plates, napkins, and cups and took them out to the dining room. Kurt slid down off the counter and walked into the living room. He waited for Dave to lie down first. Then he crawled over him and lay down nearly on top of him and relaxed. He managed to sleep for a half-hour before the doorbell rang the first time.

“Come on, Fancy. We’ve got to answer the door.”

Kurt wiggled and got more comfortable. Dave laughed at him and heard Paul open the door and greet Azimio.

“Hey, Azimio. Come on in. Put the chips on the table. I don’t know where the two of them are. Feel free to look around until you find them.”

Azimio looked in the den first, and then moved on to the living room. When he came in he found them lying on the couch. Dave’s eyes were open, but Kurt was obviously out cold. Azimio pulled his phone out. Dave glared at him and he just cackled quietly. Dave rolled his eyes and just shut them. Once Azimio had what he wanted, Dave motioned for him to leave the room.

He ran his hand along Kurt’s arm and spoke quietly. “Fancy, wake up. People are starting to get here.”

Kurt stretched.

“You’re adorable, but you have to get up or people are going to find you sleeping on me like this.”

“M’kay.” Kurt moved in a way that let Dave sit up.

Dave kissed him on the cheek. “Come on. You can do it. Up we go.” Dave took his hands and pulled him to standing.

The doorbell rang again. This time Azimio answered it. Dave and Kurt made their way out to the foyer as well.

“Put the food in the dining room, through there,” Dave pointed. “Just put your coats and stuff in the living room behind me.”

Kurt went into the dining room and out onto the back patio to grab two of the pizzas and get them in the oven. He shut the oven door and set the timer.

When he came back into the dining room, Azimio was waiting for him.

“I didn’t get to tell you, but my momma LOVED that cake. And I got some serious brownie points for cooking breakfast for her myself. You rock, dude.”

Kurt laughed. How had his life changed so much in a little over three months? “I’m glad she liked it.”

“I don’t see any fancy desserts here tonight though, dude. That’s definitely a letdown.”

“Yeah, well I’ve not really been home much this week. I’ve been putting in extra hours at the shop since it’s a busy season with customers wanting new tires before we start to get a lot of snow, but employees also want time off to spend with their families.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

The doorbell rang again and they both went out to the foyer to answer the door.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

While waiting for more pizzas to cook, they started the evening with Dirty Santa. Since Dave was the host, they decided that he would get to go last. So, they started to his left, which happened to be Kurt.

Kurt chose from the pile of gifts wrapped in brown paper from grocery bags. He ripped the paper off revealing a large jar of Nutella. He knew that wouldn’t stay in his possession very long.

Mercedes went next. She picked up the gift that Kurt had brought, which was a nice nail care kit. “I KNOW this cost more than $5, Kurt Hummel.”

“I bought it last year at the 70% off after-Christmas sale. It was between $4.50 and $5.”

“Well, I’m keeping it.”

Artie ended up picking the metal puzzles that Dave had bought and seemed pleased. The Nutella, a large bar of chocolate, and a large box of Little Debbies Star Crunches were the most frequently stolen items.

Kurt thought he had managed to snag back the Nutella for himself, but then he ended up with a nice Art Deco coloring book when Brittany, who was sitting to Dave’s right, swiped the Nutella from Kurt.

Dave had been planning to steal the Nutella from whoever had it on his turn, but he didn’t have he heart to take it from Brittany when she looked so happy, so Dave picked up the last unwrapped package and opened it to find a pack of AA batteries.

“At least they’re useful.” Dave got up and picked up all of the paper and put it in the recycling bin.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Later that evening between movies, Santana said, “Let’s play a game.”

“Charades?” Brittany asked.

“Maybe later, Britt. How about Never Have I Ever?”

Puck said, “With this crowd, that will be boring.”

“Let’s just see,” Santana said.

“No alcohol, remember?” Puck reminded her.

“Fine. We’ll use poker chips or something and the loser has to um… perform ‘For Your Entertainment’.”

Kurt blushed and got up to go get Dave’s poker chips. He brought them back down and put them in the middle of the circle they were sitting in.

“I’ll go first,” Kurt said as he plopped down next to Dave. “Never have I ever kissed a girl.”

All of the guys except Kurt and Dave took a poker chip. So did Tina, Brittany, and Santana.

Dave said, “Never have I ever gone skinny dipping.”

Brittany asked Santana quietly, “Does the hot tub count?”

Everyone tried to contain their laughter. Santana nodded. The two of them, Puck, and Matt took a chip.

“We went camping one weekend and I forgot my trunks. No one was around,” Matt said.

Puck said, “Never have I ever painted my fingernails.”

All the girls and Kurt took a chip. Santana and Puck made eye contact and Santana nodded just slightly. The game went around a few times and the guys kept naming things only girls generally did, like manicures and plucking their eyebrows.   And the girls said things that guys would do, like leaving their armpits unshaved. Kurt ended up with a massive pile of poker chips.

“Fine. Who’s got the song on their phone?”

Santana pulled her phone out and turned it all the way up and started the music.

“You asked for this. Remember that.” As Adam Lambert began to sing, Kurt sang right along with him. He strutted, swayed, swiveled his hips, and practically gave every person in the room a lap dance without touching anyone anywhere.

“Holy hell, Hummel, where’d you learn to dance like you belong in a club?” Puck asked.

Kurt just sashayed out of the room.

“Pick the next movie. I’m going to go put more pizzas in,” Dave said.

“You do that, Dave,” Santana said, as she laughed at him.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt was headed to the kitchen to get a drink of water on his way back down to the den from Dave’s bathroom when he nearly crashed into Dave as he came out of the downstairs half-bath.

Dave grabbed him to keep him from stumbling, and pulled him close. “I barely made it through the song.”

Kurt kissed him. “I’m sorry. I was torn between doing my best and us ending up needing a trip to the bathroom OR doing a lousy job and having all of them keep their low opinions of my dancing skills. The girls all act like I’m built like a Ken doll with no libido. And the guys all act like I’m a prudish girl. I didn’t mean to get you all flustered.”

“My willpower and self-restraint got their work out. God, you’re sexy just normally. Dancing like that – I just spent 4 minutes doing my best to keep from needing to change my clothes. That’s how you were dancing the night I brought you home.”

Kurt saw Puck approaching. He stepped back out of Dave’s embrace and raised his eyebrow questioningly.

“Sexy is sexy, Hummel. Nice job. You win. You’re the reigning Never Have I Ever champion of Glee.” He pushed past them to get to the half bath.

Dave kissed Kurt again. He spoke very quietly into Kurt’s ear. “I’m not sure he’s as straight as he purports to be.”

Kurt laughed. “And I’m pretty sure that I was completely set up by Puck and Santana. It was more like a well-planned dare. I just couldn’t back down. You’re not mad at me are you?”

“No, not at all. You weren’t touching anyone and no one was touching you. But now I think you have a better idea why I was so determined to bring you home that night. With you sexy dancing like that, even one of the girls might have had the idea to get you in bed.”

“You have no idea how much I appreciate that you saved me from that possibly happening to me.” Kurt heard the oven beeping. “Come on.” He took Dave’s hand to go back to the kitchen.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

At 11:30, they turned the TV on to watch the ball drop in Times Square. At the end of the count down, Kurt leaned over and kissed Dave. “Happy New Year.”

Dave smiled. “With you, definitely.” Kurt sat back up, and Dave stood up. “Alright. Those of you who are staying … Girls sleep upstairs in the guest room. Try to keep it down. My dad’s room is upstairs too. Guys sleep in here. Anyone leaving should do so soon. My dad doesn’t want anyone out driving when there’s a good chance of there being drunk drivers leaving the bars in an hour or two. There are a few rules. If you get hungry, use the microwave or eat the pizza cold. No using the stovetop or the oven during the night. Follow your own family’s rules about sleeping arrangements. My dad is home and if your parents ask my dad what you did, make sure whatever you’re doing won’t get you in trouble because my dad won’t lie for you. Oh, and stay inside and keep the doors locked.”

Jesse, Azimio, and Puck stayed. Finn drove Artie home. Matt and Mike headed to Mike’s. Dave had brought his system down earlier and hooked it up in the den. Azimio and Puck were planning to play against the other four once they got to Artie’s and Mike’s.

Of the girls, Rachel, Santana, and Brittany stayed. Tina opted to let Mercedes take her home after she found out that Mercedes’ family was going out of town to celebrate Christmas with her dad’s side of the family early the next morning and she couldn’t spend the night. Santana and Brittany grabbed their stuff from the living room and went upstairs. Jesse and Rachel went in the living room and curled up on the couch to talk. Kurt and Dave put the rest of the pizza in the fridge before heading upstairs.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Once Dave was in the shower, Kurt went in the bathroom and did his moisturizing routine and brushed his teeth. He got in bed as soon as he was done. A few minutes later, Dave came out of the bathroom. He locked his bedroom door to prevent any unwanted photography during the night like Azimio had pulled that afternoon. He turned some soft music on, flipped the light off, and got in bed. Kurt was already lying in the bed, face down in the middle.

Dave laughed. “I see your ready for the massage.” Dave climbed in the bed and started rubbing Kurt’s calves.

“So ready. Regionals is day after tomorrow. Coach Sue is not easy to please.”

“I know. I have to reign in my desire to duct tape her mouth shut when I hear what she says sometimes.”

“She’s ridiculous. That’s for sure.”

Dave turned and worked on Kurt’s shoulders for a few minutes. “Turn on your side before you fall asleep.”

Kurt turned facing the center of the bed.

“Wrong way, Fancy,” Dave teased.

“Nope. Your lips are over here.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

New Year’s Day began with Kurt letting Dave sleep in while he headed down to the kitchen to make sure that no one set the kitchen on fire by attempting to cook. He got downstairs to find that Puck was the only one awake. He was sitting in the dining room eating a slice of cold pizza.

“Hey,” Kurt said as he entered the room. He plopped down in the chair at the end of the table near where Puck was sitting.

“Hey. There’s still more pizza in there if you want it.”

“I’m good. I’ll probably make some eggs in a bit. What was with the Never Have I Ever last night? I saw the ‘moment’ you and Santana had before everyone made sure that I lost. I’m sure that ‘never have I ever painted my fingernails’ isn’t the usual type of declarations that get made in that game.”

Puck laughed. “Fine. You’re right. I made some kind of smartass remark about you not being sexy enough to dance with the guys on some song. Honestly, I don’t even remember what song now. But Santana came to your defense and talked about how you were all kinds of sexy dancing at Strando’s party after the first football game you played in. I knew you’d never do it unless it was some kind of dare or some way to save face. And she was right. I lost the bet. Thanks for that, by the way,” he laughed.

Kurt shook his head. “What do you have to do for her?”

“How do you I don’t owe her money?”

“She’s got money. She doesn’t need yours. She acts like she’s from the wrong side of tracks, but she’s not. Anyway, she’d be much more inclined to make you do something humiliating as her reward.”

“You’re like all CIA aren’t you?”

“I told you. When people ignore your existence, you hear and see a lot of things. So, what do you have to do?”

“I have to detail her car.”

“Oh. That’s not so bad. We have all the stuff to do that down at the shop. If you can get her to bring it in, you can do it there when you’re not on the clock.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. You’ve been doing a good job at the shop. If you ever want to study to get some of the certifications, the books are at the shop. I can show you where. You can borrow them one at a time, so long as you bring them back.”

“That’d be awesome. I’ve been looking at some of the stuff we got when Paul took us to LCC. But I’m not sure that any kind of college is for me. I know I’ve got time to think still, but I think I could get into being a mechanic. I’m good at fixing stuff.”

“I’d love to be a performer on Broadway, but the older I get and my speaking voice doesn’t change, the less likely that becomes. So, I’m looking at other things too. No real idea what though.”

“What do you mean about your voice? You’re a really good singer.”

“Thanks. But I’m not very masculine. I’m too androgynous to play most of the male lead roles in musicals. I’m the plucky best gay or the fashion designer or interior decorator or the hair stylist.” Kurt lowered his voice. “Did Jesse ever make it to the den to sleep?”

“No, but we went and checked on them like 10 times. They were just sleeping on the couch. I don’t trust him any farther than I can throw him. Rachel may be as annoying as hell sometimes, but she’s our lead female singer and if he’s here to mess with her – I’m not down with that.”

“Me either.” Kurt looked at what was left on the table. “Looks like a swarm of locusts hit the snacks.”

“You’re so weird. But yeah. Finn was here. Dude can eat.”

Kurt laughed. “I know I’m weird. But at least I own up to it.”

“Yeah, you do.” Puck laughed at him. “That you do.”

Kurt punched him in the shoulder.

“Hey, that stings.”

“Baby.”

“Dork.”

“Whatever. Do you want some eggs?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Kurt got up and started making scrambled eggs. He put a plate of them in front of Puck, and then went back into the kitchen to grab the two he had made for himself and Dave. He put theirs on a tray and poured glasses of juice and added them to the tray. He sat it down on the table when he realized that he had forgotten the forks.

“You always make him breakfast in bed?”

“Nope. Sometimes he makes breakfast for me,” Kurt sassed. He carried the tray out of the room and he could still hear Puck laughing as he started up the stairs.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt sat the tray down on the dresser when he went into Dave’s room. He shut and locked the door before he walked over to the bed and kissed Dave on the forehead. “Hey, handsome. I made you breakfast.”

“Mmm. Thanks.” He slid up in the bed.

Kurt brought the tray over and sat it between them. “It’s nothing fancy, but it beats more pizza I think.”

Dave picked his plate up and ate the eggs. “It’s great. Thanks.” He put the empty plate back and drank the juice.

Kurt finished his and put the tray back on the dresser. He got back in bed with Dave and snuggled up. “Happy New Year.”

“Do you want to exchange our gifts now?”

“Umm, soon. How about we get everyone else to go home first?”

“What time is it?”

“Nearly 10:00.”

“Then, my dad will be shooing everyone out really soon. I guess we can go down and tell everyone goodbye.”

“Or we can pretend we went back to sleep.” Kurt scooted closer and kissed Dave. “We’re supposed to spend holiday mornings kissing in bed, remember?”

“Oh, I remember. And you’re very persuasive, but let’s go make sure everyone leaves.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

While Azimio was in the bathroom, Dave managed to grab his phone, send the photo he had taken to his own phone and delete the image. He went back to the dining room to help Kurt clean up. In less than a half-hour, everyone had left, even Paul. He told them he’d be back for dinner and headed to his brother’s for the afternoon.

Once everyone had left, they did one last sweep of the downstairs. Kurt headed into Dave’s room and Dave checked the guest room.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When Dave came in, Kurt was in bed waiting for him.

“Now, it’s just us.” Dave slipped under the covers and slid his arm under Kurt’s neck.

Kurt rolled onto his side facing Dave. “So, snuggles? Kisses? I could give you a massage.”

“Snuggles first.”

They spent close to an hour snuggled up talking about whatever came to mind. The topic eventually came around to the Cheerleading Regionals the next day.

Kurt ran his fingers along Dave’s bicep. “I wish I could sneak you onto the bus. It would be more fun. I’m really nervous. I’m new and if I botch this, Coach Sue will make my life a living hell.”

“I think you’ll be great.”

“Of course you do.” Kurt tickled him. “That’s what boyfriends are supposed to say.”

“Maybe. But I mean it.”

Kurt kissed him. “Thank you.”

“Of course. But I’d like more kisses. We’re still going out for lunch and then to your house this afternoon. We’re going to watch the _Night at the Museum_ movie on your huge TV, right?”

“Yep. My dad’s going to some car auction somewhere.”

“So, let’s get back to the kissing.” Dave tugged him closer.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After they finished eating the Chinese food they had brought with them, Kurt pulled out the two slices of cheesecake he had frozen the week before and put them in the fridge to defrost when Dave wasn’t looking.

Dave went down the stairs first. When they got to the bottom, he said, “Close your eyes.”

Kurt closed his eyes as requested. First, Dave turned some music on to block the sound so Kurt couldn’t guess what he was doing. Dave pulled the ottoman out from under the futon and popped it up to its full height. He walked back to where Kurt was waiting and stepped in front of him.

“Okay. Open your eyes.”

“Oh, wow. It matches the futon perfectly. Thank you.”

“All we need now is for you to make a cushion for the top.”

“We can go out to JoAnn’s and get what we need after we watch the movie. It’s perfect. Let’s try it out even though we don’t have the cushion yet.” Kurt grabbed a small box off his shelf before he followed Dave to the futon. He sat down next to him and put his legs up. “This will be perfect for reading. You did it all by yourself?”

“I had a little design help from a guy at Lowe’s. I took a drawing in with me and he helped me tweak it. And of course, he used the huge saw and cut the boards.”

“We’ll use it a lot, I’m sure. It’s a lot more comfortable than leaning against the wall or just sitting here.”

Dave’s smile lit up his eyes and he beamed from all the praise from Kurt.

“So, I have your gift.” Kurt handed Dave the box. “I made it myself as well.”

Dave opened the box. It was a woven bracelet, made with variegated black, blue, and gray paracord. Kurt had ordered a specialized stainless steel clasp to make it sturdier than the ones made with the plastic snap buckles. Dave picked it up and examined it.

“What the design on the fastener?”

“Well, it’s a secret message just for you. Everyone will be able to see it, but no one else will know what it says.” Kurt rotated it 180 degrees. “It’s three words with the letters all drawn inside the same circle, like they’re stacked on top of each other.”

Dave examined it carefully. “K…T… D… A … E … S …V … U … R”

“You found most of the letters.”

“Is it a puzzle for me to figure out or are you going to tell me?”

“A puzzle.”

Dave got up and got a notepad and a pencil. He wrote out the letters he had already found. He examined the engraved disc again. “What am I missing?”

Kurt looked at the paper. “What would the E be without the top two horizontal lines?”

“An L.” He added L to the letters.

“And the circle around the outside is an O.”

Dave added that. He looked at the letters on the page and recognized his name and Kurt’s. He underlined those letters. All that was left was “S … O … L”.

“A clue. Two letters are used more than once.”

“Hmm.”

“Last hint. The third word goes in the middle and it starts with L.”

Dave smiled. He wrote out “Kurt loves Dave?”

“You got it.” Kurt took the pad and pencil and put them on the floor. He rearranged and straddled Dave’s lap. He tipped Dave’s chin up gently and looked him in the eyes. “I love you. Will you wear this bracelet as a reminder of that?”

“Of course.”

Kurt leaned down and kissed him. “Can I put it on you?”

Dave handed it to Kurt and held his left arm out. Kurt positioned it so that the letters were facing so that Dave could read them. He fastened it in place with the bolt pin. He kissed Dave’s wrist and then leaned forward again. He put his hands on the sides of Dave’s face and kissed him again. Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt’s lower back.

“You’re serious, right?”

“I would never say it if I weren’t. I love you, Dave.” Kurt slid his hands down to Dave’s shoulders and kissed down his neck. He snuggled into Dave’s chest and rested his head on Dave’s shoulder, nuzzling into his neck. He spoke quietly. “I wanted to give you something personal, but I didn’t want you to be uncomfortable wearing it, like a ring or a necklace. You can use the paracord if you ever need it for an emergency. It can hold 550 pounds. Just take the bolt pin out and use it to fasten the clasp to a belt loop or a key ring. I can either redo the bracelet using the original cord or I can replace it, but still use the clasp with the engraved piece on it. It’s waterproof, so you can leave it on in the shower or a pool if you want.”

“Sit up for a minute.”

Kurt sat up and looked at Dave, who looked like he might cry.

Dave ran his hand down Kurt’s cheek and said, “I love you too. I have for quite a while. I was just scared to tell you. I was afraid that you didn’t feel the same and I’d scare you off by making you feel pressured to say it back to me.”

“I’ve known for a while that you did. And I knew for sure last week. And I had already finished the bracelet, but then we talked about exchanging gifts on New Year’s Day instead of Christmas. If you look under the cotton layer in the box, there’s something else.”

Dave picked the box up and removed the layer of cotton. “It’s a second bracelet.”

“It fits me. It’s a slightly different weaving pattern, but done with the same paracord.”

Dave looked at it. “It has the same tiny medallion with the letters.”

“I made it a little flatter so it would fit under my dress shirt cuffs more easily.”

Dave was still looking at it.

“If you’d rather me not wear it, I can wait, or just not wear it at school.”

“What? Sorry, I zoned out. No, please can I put it on you? My silence had nothing to do with me not wanting you to wear it. More like the opposite – shock that you want to wear it. It’s like this really amazing dream and…”

Kurt interrupted his statement by kissing him again. “Of course I want to wear it.” Kurt stuck his left wrist out and rotated the bracelet. He explained how to put the bolt pin in. It took Dave a couple of tries since he had never done it before. He kissed Kurt’s wrist, and then pulled him down gently so they could kiss again.

“It’s perfect.”

“I’m so glad you opened up to me that morning. Otherwise, I would have never gotten to know what an amazing guy you are. If you’re wondering what gave you away, it was all the trouble you went to when you learned to cook just to make me something I’d really enjoy. You are the sweetest guy, David Karofsky.”

Dave blushed. “I’m still not convinced I’m not dreaming. I’ve had some pretty crazy dreams that you starred in.”

“Dave!” Kurt sounded scandalized.

“Well, there were some of THOSE types of dreams, I won’t lie, but a lot of them were just me having the nerve to even talk to you and then you being willing to talk to me. I was so terrified to talk to you, but I’m glad I did. Really glad. I love you so much. Tell me how came up with the design.”

“I came up with the paracord idea first because I thought it was manly enough that you might actually be willing to wear it. I tried different designs and I was going to use a rectangular stainless steel piece across the front and fasten it into the paracord, but then I thought people might want to look at it and try to figure out what it said and I wanted it to be something just between the two of us. So, I kept messing around and I just wrote ‘Kurt loves Dave’ putting the letters all in the same space. And I kind of liked it. I tried again with all caps and that’s what I decided to go with. I used the engraver at the shop on the stainless medallions and I painted the engraved part, wiped the excess off, and let them dry. Afterwards, I put the metal clear coat on we use at the shop and I welded them to the clasps.”

“I like the idea. It’s something everyone can see, but it’s also something private just between us.”

Kurt tipped Dave’s chin up. “I know you’ve loved me for a long time and you’ve been scared I was just going along with this because you were my only option. I want you not to feel that way. I could have said ‘no’. I wasn’t desperate for a boyfriend. I was pretty desperate for a friend and you offered me that as an option as well. I’ve never felt pressured by you. You’ve been a real gentleman. And I’m really thankful for that. I’m a romantic at heart. You made me see that you are too. You told me up front that you didn’t want an easy lay or even a fuck buddy — which you could have gotten easily without any of the problems dating me has caused you. You knew the risk and you took it willingly. And it cost you a lot. I like the time we spend reading and playing games and watching movies and just spending time together. And I like cooking with you. And those are all things we could have done as just friends. But I really love when you snuggle up behind me and hold me close. I love slow dancing with you. I love it when you just reach out for my hand when I’m nearby or put your hand on my lower back or my leg. I really never expected to have the chance to love someone until I was a lot older and I moved away from Lima. And I love you – not because you’re my only option, but because you’re amazing.”

Dave nodded and those tears he had managed to contain, slipped down his cheeks. Kurt reached out and used his thumbs to wipe them away.

“They’re happy tears.”

“I know. But I also know there’s some sadness mixed in there too. It’s not been a walk in the park the last three and a half months. But I’m glad you gave me the chance to get to know you and to love you.” He kissed Dave gently. “You’re an amazing guy and I’m proud to be your boyfriend. Do you want to go up and watch the movie now?”

Dave leaned up and kissed him. “Yeah.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave was half sitting, half reclining with Kurt lying back on him like Dave was his personal chaise when the movie ended. Kurt turned over and got on all fours and allowed Dave to reposition himself. Rather than sitting up and letting Kurt sit at a 90-degree angle to him in the corner, Dave slid down more until he was flat on his back and he gently pulled Kurt down on top of him. Kurt relaxed and lay down on him. He turned his head to the side, using Dave’s chest as a pillow. Kurt ran his fingers through Dave’s hair. He moved his legs to get a little more comfortable and felt something pressed against his abdomen, which made him realize what his squirming had caused. He scooted to his right and squished himself on his side between the sofa back and Dave’s side. Dave turned his body slightly so he could see Kurt more easily. His face was really flushed.

“I’m sorry.   I didn’t mean to …”

“I know. It’s fine. It happens a lot. You’re insanely attractive. Hey, look at me, please.”

Kurt managed to make eye contact. “I know you’re not doing it on purpose. You’re not being a tease, if that’s what you think I think.”

“No, I just feel like I’m a let down because I’m not ready to go farther. My dad talked about how sex changes things between people. And after he and I talked, I looked at the people at school who are open about the fact that they are sexually active and honestly they don’t seem happy. And I don’t know why. Is it because they just randomly have sex and never feel connected to the person, like they think it will create this special connection and it doesn’t happen, so they’re let down by the whole experience so they try again and again unsuccessfully to make that connection? Or do they make that connection, only to have the other person break it by cheating on them or by leaving them for whatever reason? I love you and I like how we are together. I love the closeness we have and I guess after what my dad said, I feel like if we move quickly that our relationship will become more about sex than everything else. And I don’t want to lose those other things.”

“I don’t want us to be together just for that either. And I’m not disappointed. Just because my body reacts, doesn’t mean that you have some obligation to do something about it. I was enjoying being your pillow.”

“Ooh… I just remembered something. Hop up and go in the kitchen and then close your eyes.”

Dave did as Kurt asked. Kurt opened the fridge and pulled out the bowl with the cheesecake slices. He took the lid off and got out a fork. He stood in front of Dave asked him to open his mouth and he put a bite of the cheesecake in. He took a bite of the other slice and ate it.

“You saved some.”

“I did. I wanted to have the last piece with you today.” He fed Dave another bite.

They stood there with Kurt feeding both of them until the cheesecake was gone. Kurt put the bowl and fork in the dishwasher. He turned around and Dave was staring at his bracelet.

“Please be honest. If you don’t want to wear it, you can just fasten it to your backpack or keep it fastened around the lamp on your nightstand.” He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck. “I love you whether you wear it or not.”

“I wasn’t looking at it because it was bothering me. I was looking at it because it’s really cool. And of course, I’m going to wear it.” He squeezed Kurt gently. “I love you and I will wear the bracelet because I want to wear it. Are you ready to go get some foam and fabric to make a cushion for the ottoman?”

“I’m just going to run down and grab the fabric swatch that came with the futon cover. I’ll be right back up. Do you know the measurements?”

“Yep.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When they were in the fabric store, Dave left Kurt in the fabric section to go to the bathroom. He stopped on the way back to look at some really soft looking yarn in a wire bin. A boy about 11 years old walked up and started playing with the skeins of yarn, running his hands through the bin. Dave smiled at him.

“I like your bracelet.”

“Thanks.”

“Where did you buy it?”

“Oh, I didn’t buy it. It was a gift. My boyfriend made it for me and gave it to me – today actually.”

“Boyfriend?”

“Yep.”

“But you’re a jock. Gay boys are sissies.”

“Nope, not true. Gay people come in as many varieties as people who aren’t gay. There are gay football players, like me and my boyfriend. There are gay musicians, teachers, chefs, artists, anything you can think of.”

“Oh.”

“And just because a guy likes to do something like sew or paint or make stuff doesn’t mean he’s gay. What people like to do and who people love are completely unrelated.”

“I think I get it. You can’t tell just by looking at someone or by what they like to do or are good at.”

“Exactly. And it doesn’t make someone any different. And unless you want to date someone, who that person is attracted to isn’t really your business because it doesn’t affect your life. Think about it like this. Would you refuse to be friends with someone because they like to eat a food you don’t like?”

“No, that’s dumb.”

“But what if you had to pair up with someone to split a meal evenly? Then would it matter what the other person likes?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s how it works with people. Unless who the person likes directly affects you somehow, then it shouldn’t matter to you whether someone likes boys or girls.”

“That makes sense.”

“Does being friends with someone who likes a food you don’t like make you end up liking the food?”

“No, that’s dumb too.”

“Being gay isn’t catching. Just because someone is gay doesn’t mean they can make other people gay. It just doesn’t work that way.”

“My grandma was in the hospital and I spent a lot of time with her and she taught me how to knit and I really like to knit and one of the boys at school found out because my sister told his sister than I made her hat. Now the boys tease me and call me a girl. But I’m not a girl. And I think girls are cute, not boys. So, I’m not gay. But the other guys tease me a lot.”

“Is your mom here with you?”

“Yeah. She’s looking at the paintbrushes.”

“Will you please tell her what the boys at school are doing to you? Don’t wait until it gets worse. Someone needs to tell them what I told you, so they can learn. What they’re doing to you is wrong and it needs to stop.”

“I’ll tell her. I didn’t want to, but I will.”

“Actually, honey, I’m right here. Is that why you didn’t make any hats this fall?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m going to talk to your teacher and get this straightened out. Why don’t you pick the one you like from that bin and go get in line?” He grabbed one. He took the $5 bill she offered him and went to get in line.

“Thanks. I know we tell kids not to talk to strangers, but I think you’re just young enough for him to not be afraid of you. He’d been really sullen over the last couple of months, but wouldn’t tell me what was bothering him.”

“You’re welcome. My boyfriend’s been where your son is now. It only got worse. I don’t want that for other kids. Gay or not. It got more physical in junior high, but by high school he was being tossed in dumpsters and physically bullied. The school did nothing. Maybe if you start now, things will be different by the time he’s in high school.”

“Are they better now?”

“Well, the main offenders got expelled after they beat me up after they found out I’m gay. My dad’s a lawyer. Otherwise, I’m not sure anything would have happened.”

“I see. I better get up front. Thanks again. I’m going to go talk to his teacher as soon as school starts back up.” She walked away.

Dave smiled and nodded.

“There you are.” Kurt smiled when he saw Dave. He grabbed his hand. “Come look at the three options I found.”


	10. Chapter 10

The Cheerios bus arrived at the arena at 9:00. Even though it had only been a two and a half hour ride, it felt so much longer because Kurt was really nervous. He had brought a small pillow and had hoped to get some more sleep on the ride, but that didn’t happen, although he did pretend to be asleep.

They filed off the bus and headed inside. Coach Sue got the team checked in and led them to seats where they could watch the other teams perform. They weren’t scheduled to perform for another two hours, which made Kurt even more nervous.

Even though he didn’t feel like eating, he knew it was a good time to have a snack to keep from getting too hungry or thirsty, but not have anything sloshing around in his stomach when it came time to perform. He had brought a couple of cereal bars and a small bottle of water with him in his Cheerios jacket.

After watching for about an hour, he spent some time texting back and forth with Dave and tried to relax. He wasn’t singing in this competition, but he was afraid that he would mess something up and make Coach Sue mad. He closed his eyes, put his earbuds in, and listened to some music for a while until he heard Coach Sue’s voice. He put his phone and earbuds back in his coat pocket and got in line. They went to another area where they warmed up, and then lined up to perform.

The routine went smoothly and Kurt was relieved to exit the performance area having made it through the whole thing without messing up. When they got close to where they had been sitting in the audience earlier, Kurt saw his dad and Dave. His expression changed immediately when he saw Dave moving toward him while his dad was talking to Coach Sue.

“Dave!” Kurt practically jumped into his arms when he got close enough. “What are you doing here?”

“Watching you, of course.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Your dad thought it might make you even more nervous if you knew we were here.”

Kurt reached for his hand. “Come on. Come sit with me. You’re wearing your letterman jacket, you’ll fit in.” Kurt led him to the section where the rest of the Cheerios were sitting. He sat in the next-to-end spot giving Dave room to sit in the end seat. “So, what did you think?”

“You guys did great. I only saw a few other squads before you, but the Cheerios were definitely better than the ones I saw.”

“So, you were already here when we were texting.”

“We were.”

Burt came down to where they were sitting. He leaned over and spoke in Kurt’s ear. “You were great, kiddo. I’ll be back in a couple of hours. I got the awards ceremony time from your Coach.”

“Okay, Dad.”

Kurt leaned over and put his head on Dave’s shoulder.

“You tired?”

“Yeah. I tried to sleep on the bus, but it was too noisy.”

“I’m betting that you’re supposed to be watching. Won’t Coach Sue give all of you some kind of quiz about which team’s back flips were the best or something?”

“I hope not.”

They chatted quietly back and forth during the rest of the competition. About 15 minutes before the awards ceremony was about to start, Dave’s phone buzzed letting him know that Burt was back and gave him the details of where he had parked.

The top five teams were called down to the performance area. Kurt and the rest of the Cheerios moved to take their place with the other four groups. Much to Kurt’s relief, they came in first. They stayed and repositioned the group in the center of the area for a team photo with the trophy. Once they were done, the team headed back to their seats. Coach Sue congratulated them in her own weird condescending way and told them to grab their stuff and head to the bus.

Kurt hung back at the end of the line. Dave followed along walking next to Kurt. When they got out to the bus, Coach Sue stopped him when started to get on the bus. “Get whatever you left on the bus and get back out here.”

Kurt was confused, but did what she said, grabbing the small pillow he had brought with him.

“See you Monday, Hummel.”

Kurt was still confused, but saw that Dave was still standing there.

“Well come on.”

“What’s going on?”

Dave laughed. “I thought your dad told you. You’re coming back with us.”

“Excellent. Let’s go.”

Dave reached for Kurt’s hand and he started to lead them toward where Burt had parked. They only made it past a couple of buses before Kurt heard his name. He looked around, and then turned back toward the Cheerios bus. He saw two girls jogging toward them, one much closer than the other.

When she caught up, she said, “It is you. I told Nadine that it was you.”

Nadine caught up to Clarissa. “I thought you two were football players.”

“We are. I’m a cheerleader too.”

“We saw,” Nadine said. “Congratulations on winning. The Cheerios always win, but we try anyway. At least we won our Sectionals. We compete in Dayton to stay away from the Cheerios as long as possible.”

Kurt laughed. “I see.”

“Are you two coming to the next line dance night?”

“We might.”

The two girls heard their names being called. Clarissa said, “We gotta go. Give me your hand.”

Kurt stuck his hand out. Clarissa pulled a pen out of her pocket and wrote on his hand.

“That’s my last name. Friend me on Facebook. Bye!”

The two girls ran off.

Kurt started laughing. “Are they flirting with us? I mean we were holding hands when she started yelling my name.”

“Maybe they just want to go out with boys who will dance with them? I mean they did say they had boyfriends.”

“Who knows?” Kurt pulled his phone out and put her full name in his notes app. “I’ll add her later.”

Once they reached the Navigator, they hopped in the backseat together.

“Congratulations! You were really good, Kurt. It’s been ages since you took gymnastics. I didn’t know you could still do flips and stuff.”

“I had to really work at it. Getting taller does not make it easier.”

“Speaking of taller, how much have you grown?”

“A couple of inches since the beginning of the school year. Thanks for coming and bringing Dave.”

“No problem, kiddo. I feel like your chauffeur with both of you sitting back there.”

“Do you want one of us to move?”

“Nah, it’s fine. Dave packed a bag for you last night when you were in the shower. You’re pretty flexible. Even as tall as you are now, you can probably still change back there. The back windows are tinted and Dave can hold your coat up to block the view from the front and side.”

Kurt got up on his knees facing the cargo area and found his bag. He took out the outfit on top, which was a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved, button-up shirt, and a sweater. He managed to get them on, but couldn’t tuck the shirt in. He switched his socks, folded his uniform up, and put it the duffle. He grabbed the boots and put his cheer sneakers in the back. He took his coat back, put it back on, and then slipped his feet into his boots.

“I forgot a belt. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. The sweater covers over the belt loops and these pants have no chance of falling down.”

Burt laughed.

Kurt rolled his eyes. “I’m done. We can go do whatever you had planned.”

“I didn’t bring a different coat either. Your dad said to pack as light as possible because he needed the cargo area.” Dave took his hand and slid his sleeves up enough to put Kurt’s bracelet back on him.

Kurt smiled at Dave. “It’s fine. I have no clue what we’re doing though. What are we doing, Dad?” Once Dave had finished fastening the bracelet, Kurt took his hand and interlaced their fingers.

Burt pulled out of the parking lot. “Well, today we’re going to a couple of small car museums.”

“Alright, but the way you said that was weird. Why did you say ‘today’?”

“Because tomorrow we’re doing something different. I’m going to a place that’s having an auction tomorrow. They have parts listed I need for some of those junkers I have sitting behind the shop. Plus, they’re selling off stuff from a couple of auto dealers back stock. That’s why there’s some flattened boxes in the back and a tarp. Plus, there’s a good junkyard nearby. I’m going to drop the two of you off at the Newport Aquarium and you can spend the day looking at fish and whatever. Paul said Dave’s wanted to go for a long time, but he never managed to take him.”

Dave had a huge smile on his face. “Really?” He knew they were spending the night, but he had no idea what had been planned for that afternoon or Sunday.

“Yeah. So, tonight we’re staying in a hotel not that far from the aquarium, but far enough from downtown to be reasonably priced.”

“Sounds fun.” He squeezed Dave’s hand.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After they went to see the Wyler Collection and to the Salty Dog Museum, they discussed where to eat dinner before they left the museum parking lot.

“We’re in a big city. How about Chipotle? I see ads for it, but we don’t have one. It seems like the kind of place you could follow your diet without it being incredibly boring.”

“Fine by me. Just tell me which way to go.”

Kurt looked it up and gave him directions. After they found a place to park, they went inside and got in line.

“This place is pretty cool,” Kurt said. “If you don’t overdo the sour cream, it all looks fine.”

“This might be my new favorite place,” Burt said, teasing him.

They all ordered and took their food to a table. Kurt excused himself to the bathroom and came back a few minutes later with his shirt tucked in, his hair straightened out, and his pants tucked in his boots the way he liked them. He grabbed his cup and Burt’s. Dave grabbed his and followed him to fill their cups with water. Dave saw the bottles of hot sauce and chose one. Kurt picked up a stack of napkins.

When they sat back down, Burt had already taken a bite of his. “This is good. We need one of these in Lima if I’m allowed to eat here.”

Kurt just laughed. He unwrapped his own burrito enough to take a bite. “You’re right. It is good. I like it too.”

Dave offered Kurt a bite of his since they had gotten different meats. Kurt did the same.

“They’re both good,” Dave said. “It’s definitely on my ‘Eat Here Again’ list.”

They talked about the cars they’d seen, with Burt doing most of the talking while they finished eating. Once they were done, Dave grabbed everything and cleared the table. Kurt went back up to the register and bought one of the drinks out of the case that he had been eying while they ate, and opened it. He drank part of it and handed it to Dave.

“Mmm. That’s really good.”

“I think so too. I wonder if we can get it in a store in Lima.” He showed the bottle to Burt. “Even you could have one. It’s just carbonated fruit juice, but it’s really good. No added sugar or anything.”

“Izze, huh? Well, you see if you can find them in Lima and you can put them on our shopping list. I’ve missed having a soda now and then.”

Kurt and Dave finished it and left the bottle in the glass recycling bin. Dave took Kurt’s hand and followed Burt out to where they’d parked.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

At the hotel, Dave put his bag on the dresser, opened it, and pulled something out.   He turned and said, “Catch!” as he threw it to Kurt.

Kurt turned quickly enough to catch it, but looked completely confused. “Swim trunks?”

“Yeah. Put them on. They’re my old ones. They were in my dresser, not my closet, so they missed the closet purge. I have my newer ones. Go put those on.”

“I’ll go change, and then you can.” Dave grabbed his and headed into the bathroom.

As soon as the door closed, Burt spoke quietly. “You love him, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“I thought so.”

“Does that bother you?”

“No. To be honest, I thought it would. I thought it would be really weird for you to be in love with another guy. But it’s not. I’m glad for you. I want you to be happy and being with him makes you happy. Anyone with eyes can see that.”

Kurt smiled. “He’s super sweet.”

“I know. Never in a million years would I think I’d see a 16-year old guy trying to impress you by learning to cook and building you furniture.”

Kurt laughed. “What he made was delicious, and even if it hadn’t been, he’s a keeper.”

The bathroom door opened and Dave came out. Kurt went in. This time Burt questioned Dave.

“You’re in love with my son, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Good. You’re really sweet with him without treating him like he’s a girl. I like that.”

Dave laughed. “Just because he’s smaller than me doesn’t make him less masculine. He’s still growing. Even if he never gets as tall as me, he’ll still be man, even in that crazy kilt thing he wears sometimes.”

Burt laughed. “You’re alright, kid.”

Kurt came out carrying two towels in addition to his clothes. He put the clothes on the bed.

“Come on. It will be fun.” Dave grabbed his hand.

They got down to the pool and found that they were alone. Dave walked down the stairs into the water. Kurt didn’t let go of his hand. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into getting in a pool. I can’t swim.”

“How about if I teach you how to swim?”

“I know the how in a conceptual way. Kick my feet, move my arms. It’s just … never mind. You’re right. The pool is only five feet deep. I can’t drown if my head is out of the water when my feet are on the bottom. I’ll give it a try, but don’t tease me if I panic, okay?”

“I won’t.” He turned and faced Kurt. “Look at me.”

Kurt swallowed hard and looked at Dave. He could see the genuine care and concern in Dave’s eyes.

“I love you. I would never intentionally hurt you or let you get hurt if I can prevent it.”

Kurt nodded and followed him out to where the water was a little deeper. Dave held onto the side and showed Kurt how to kick and got him to imitate him. He gradually moved Kurt to trying the arm strokes. He saw Kurt trying to overcome his panic every time water got splashed in his face.

“I have an idea. I’m going to teach you a different stroke – one you can do without putting your face in the water.” He took Kurt back over to the edge of the pool and taught him the kick for the breast stroke. Kurt was a good mimic and learned it quickly.

“I like that better. It feels more controlled.”

“Good. Turn sideways.” He showed Kurt how to move his arms and turn his hands at the right time. “Okay. If you’ll let me, I’ll hold you up. I’m going to put my arms under you, sort of like a table. Your head is supposed to go under during this stroke, but it can be done with your head out. You won’t get to where you’re going as fast, but you’ll still get there.”

“Okay.” He let Dave hold him up and walk alongside him as he got the hang of coordinating the arm and leg movements.

What neither of them saw was Burt watching from the hallway through the glass in the door with tears streaming down his cheeks.

“You’ve got it. I’m going to let go of you, but I will keep my arms below you. And remember, you can reach the bottom. You can always just stand up.”

Kurt worked at and did it without Dave touching him.

“Perfect. This time, I’m going to just walk along next to you. You’ve got this. Just stand up if you feel like you can’t keep going.” Dave stayed by his side. When they got to the edge, Dave took his hand under the water and squeezed it. “This time, let’s swim together from this side to the other side.”

Kurt nodded.

Dave swam slowly alongside Kurt, doing the stroke without putting his face in the water either. He kept his head facing Kurt so he could keep an eye on him. When they got to the other side, Kurt threw his arms around Dave’s neck, disregarding the fact that they were in public, and hugged him.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I just grabbed the trunks from my house this morning because I didn’t find any in your dresser last night when your dad told me to pack your stuff quickly. I wasn’t trying to force you to go swimming with me. I didn’t know that you didn’t know how to swim. You never said anything when we were out on the lake.”

“I wore the life vest the whole time, remember? I don’t tell people I can’t swim. That’s how I became so afraid of the water to start with. Let’s try it again. I’m going to get better at it so I can go faster. Oh, and I don’t own any swim trunks, well I guess I do now that you gave me these.”

They swam back and forth several times, never noticing that Burt was watching them. After a few more minutes, Burt wiped his eyes and went back up to their hotel room. They stayed down in the pool for a while with Kurt practicing until he could do the stroke evenly and he felt comfortable.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt knocked on the hotel door and Burt opened it.

“Hey, Dad. Dave taught me how to swim.”

“Really? That’s great. Congratulations.”

“I’m going to go shower. Maybe you two can find a movie we can watch.” Kurt grabbed his pajamas and toiletries from his duffle and went into the bathroom.

Dave sat on the towel on the vinyl chair at the small table so he wouldn’t get the bed wet. He saw Burt wiping his eyes.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, not at all. You just … did what I’ve never been able to do. And I can’t thank you enough.”

“Something happened.”

“Yeah. But I’ll let him be the one to tell you that whenever he’s ready. I’m just so glad to know that he can swim.” He started flipping channels. “Oh, how about this? Not my cup of tea, but you and Kurt might like it. It’s that Jamie Olive or whatever making something.”

“Sure. Kurt’s probably just going to go to sleep. After cheering and then swimming, I’m sure he’s tired.”

Kurt came out of the bathroom and sat down on the end of the bed. “Once you’re in the shower, I’ll use the blow dryer.”

Dave got in the shower. Kurt dried his hair quickly and got in bed before Dave finished.

“I’m really glad for you, bud. I think you’re right – he’s a keeper.”

Kurt smiled and covered up. Burt turned the lamp off. The light from the TV was enough for Dave to see to get to the bed when he got out of the shower. He took the remote from the table between the two beds and propped his pillow up and watched the show for a bit before he turned the TV off and snuggled up with Kurt.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next morning, Burt dropped Kurt and Dave off right as the aquarium was opening. He gave them money for their tickets and $10 each for lunch figuring that the restaurant inside would be pricey. They got in line, which moved quickly since they were there so early.

Once they had their tickets they went in. They were instantly drawn in. They touched sharks and other sea creatures, and enjoyed all of the interactive areas. Kurt figured out how to get his camera settings to allow him to get good photos of the sea creatures in the tanks. He especially enjoyed watching the jellyfish and got some cool photos.

“I’m glad my dad told you to grab my camera. I’m going to print some of these and make a collage.”

“It’s really cool in here. I’ve wanted to come for a long time. I saw some of the sharks that are here on a video once. It’s totally as cool as I thought it would be.”

“I like how peaceful watching the fish swim around makes me feel. Thanks again for last night.”

Dave just squeezed his hand. “Let’s sit over there and watch.” He led Kurt to a recently vacated bench up against a wall near the corner.

Kurt sat close to him and leaned his head on Dave’s shoulder and they sat and watched for a while in silence.

Kurt was the one to break the silence. “I’m sorry I sort of lied that first day we talked. You mentioned that you liked swimming and some other stuff. I said I did too, but that I’d never been golfing. I didn’t know you at all, and I never told anyone I couldn’t swim until I told you yesterday. It was my Uncle Andy. I was 9. It was the summer after my mom died. We were out on a boat – me, my dad, my aunt Mildred, and Uncle Andy. He stopped the motor so they could fish in the area. He was ‘horsing around’, which consisted of making fun of me a lot of the time, if my dad wasn’t close enough to hear what was being said. I said something about not being able to swim and he decided that I was just being difficult because I didn’t want to mess up my ‘perfect’ swim trunks by getting them wet in the lake, so he picked me up and tossed me over the side of the boat into the lake.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Yeah. My dad heard the splash and jumped in after me and obviously managed to save me, but not before I nearly drowned. Aunt Mildred helped my dad get me back up on the boat. I was still choking and coughing.   And then I remember waking up to my dad doing CPR on me. I heard Uncle Andy call me a pansy and he told my dad that it was his fault that I was such a sissy since he wouldn’t do anything to toughen me up and that I was just overreacting. My dad held me and ordered Aunt Mildred to dock the boat and we got off. He took me to the ER. I had aspirated water. I was in the hospital overnight. Uncle Andy fake apologized to my dad. We went to their place a couple of times after that to visit, but never went out fishing again. He never changed, but managed to pretend like he had whenever my dad was around.   But the last time we were there, well, I won’t even repeat what he said, but my dad heard him that time. They moved to Arkansas not too long after that, so I haven’t seen them since. That was why earlier this fall I used Uncle Andy against my dad’s reticence to go to the doctor. I reminded him that as my only living blood relatives, I would be turned over to Aunt Mildred and Uncle Andy if anything happened to him.”

“I’m not mad that you kept it from me. It’s not like swimming is my favorite thing in the world and you promised to do it with me every day next summer or something. I just listed some things I like to do and you agreed. We were just talking and getting to know each other a little bit that day, not revealing big secrets to each other. It’s not a big deal and I understand why you wouldn’t want someone you weren’t sure you could trust to know. I could have been playing you and then told everyone that you couldn’t swim. I get it. Your uncle Andy sounds like my mom’s relatives, but without the religious venom.”

“Oh, that was there too. I just didn’t mention it. My dad tried to teach me to swim after that, but I’d just panic whenever he tried. Him being in the water with me didn’t calm me down because my memories of nearly drowning involve him being in the water too. And I slipped out of his arms a few times because he’s not the best swimmer. As happens frequently to the person trying to do the rescuing, he struggled to stay above water as well. I’d just have flashbacks whenever he’d try to teach me. And I never trusted anyone else to even try. I was too afraid to sign up for lessons because I didn’t want anyone else to know that I couldn’t swim after what had happened. Being in a pool that I could stand up in and you being the one teaching me allowed me to overcome my fear. I still don’t think I’ll ever want to swim in water over my head on purpose, but now at least I think I could swim far enough to get to the side of a pool and get out if someone throws me in a some point.”

Dave squeezed his hand. “I’m sure you can, but if I catch someone tossing you into a pool, they’re getting a bucket of ice water dumped over their head AFTER I make sure you’re safe.”

Kurt laughed. He kept hold of Dave’s hand and stood up. “Let’s go look around some more.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Right before closing time, Kurt and Dave jumped in the backseat and shut the doors quickly to keep the cold out.

“I’m positive that you did not go in there this morning wearing a penguin hoodie.”

Kurt laughed and looked down at his hoodie that had two penguins and a chick between them. “I didn’t, but I just had to have it. Guess what I learned today.”

“Probably a million things given the size of that place. Why don’t you tell me the one thing you learned that inspired you to buy a penguin hoodie?”

“There are gay penguins who pair off together. And zoos have given them extra eggs when a female lays too many or eggs from female penguins that rejected theirs and they’ve hatched and raised the chick themselves, sharing the responsibilities.”

“I see. I did not know that either. That’s actually really cool.”

“I thought so. And the adult penguins on my hoodie are gay.”

Burt laughed.

“A penguin’s sex can’t be determined just by looking, so there’s no way to prove they aren’t, and I say they are.”

“Works for me. Sounds like you had a good time. What about you Dave?”

“It’s amazing in there. I loved it.”

“That’s good. Anything you learn inspire you to buy something unusual?”

Kurt laughed.

“Not exactly inspired by information, but I bought this cool deck of waterproof playing cards with sharks on them instead of the regular jack, queen and king. And the back of the cards have a cool hammerhead shark on them.”

“Waterproof cards sound like a good idea.”

“Yeah, if you dump anything on them you can just wash them with soap and water. They came in this indestructible case so you can toss them in a backpack or whatever without damaging them.”

“Did you find anything good at the junkyard or win any of the auction pieces you wanted?”

“Yep. I got quite a bit of stuff. A bunch of oil filters, spark plugs, and a lot of other stuff. You can help me add it to our inventory when you work this week.”

“Don’t remind me. Not that I don’t want to go to work, but that means that school starts again tomorrow. It should be against the rules to make the Cheerios practice over break.”

“But you did win,” Burt said.

“Yeah, there is that. But I want to lounge around a few more days.”

“Next weekend, kiddo.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday afternoon after school, Mr. Schue practically yelled, “Let’s move to the auditorium!” trying to be heard over the music. He moved to the door and motioned for everyone to follow him.

Once they stepped into the auditorium and the doors were closed, they could finally hear themselves think.

“Coach Sue has lost her mind,” Puck said.

“Well, I happen to love Madonna, but the volume could go down a bit and playing it all day long is a bit excessive,” Kurt said. “Anyway, Dave and are ready to do our 80s song.”

“Alright then. Let’s get started.” I’ll give you 10 minutes to be ready.

Everyone else sat in the auditorium talking to each other while waiting. Kurt and Dave came out on the stage with the band members. They had come in 15 minutes before school to run through their song once and they were ready to go. They sang the verses back and forth and the chorus together just like Olivia Newton-John and Cliff Richard.

_Suddenly, the wheels are motion_

_And I am ready to sail any ocean_

_Suddenly, I don’t need the answers_

_Cause I’m ready to take all of my chances with you_

They went down and sat in the auditorium when the finished.

“That was a great example of a 80s duet. Good job guys,” Mr. Schue said. Since no one else had prepared anything over break, he told them he wanted everyone to sing a Madonna song. His suggestion wasn’t well received by the guys. The girls moved and sat together to discuss a number they could perform together. Mr. Schue requested that all of the guys meet at lunch in the choir room the next day.

Kurt and Mercedes met up at the Hummel’s to work on their “Vogue” idea. Kurt used his new contacts in the Cheerios and rounded up enough people to work on it and made plans to meet up the next morning.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Tuesday, all of the people Kurt contacted showed up at the school an hour early to work on the song and the choreography.

At lunch, all of the guys met with Mr. Schue and he discussed the lack of morale and how the guys weren’t doing a good job of treating the girls as equals. He handed out sheet music. They stood around the piano and sang through “What it Feels Like For a Girl” by Madonna. Puck made it clear that he would not perform the song for the girls, but they discussed how society continued to view women as less than men.

Kurt asked the guys to sit down. He stood in front of the group of guys and took a deep breath. “I’m not going to stand here and tell you about what it feels like to be a girl. That would be ridiculous because I am not a girl. I just want you to think about one thing. First a question. How many of you have a sister or a close relative that is a girl under the age of 20?” Everyone but Finn raised their hands. “Okay. Finn, I want you to picture Brittany’s little sister. You’ve seen her before, right?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Okay. Each of you – picture your young female family member or Brittany’s little sister standing right here next to me.” He turned sideways. “Over there is a group of bullies. And you know what they’ve just called me?”

Dave answers, “A girl.”

“Exactly. A group of bullies is berating me – and one of the worst things they can think of to call me is a ‘girl’. How many times do you think that happened when there was a girl close enough to me to hear it? How many times do girls hear that what they are is an insult? When being called a ‘girl’ isn’t an insult anymore, things will have finally changed.” Kurt sat down.

Dave stood up and walked down front. “It’s true. Just a couple of days ago, I met a boy. He was looking at yarn skeins like he really wanted to pick one out, but instead he was just sort of messing with them in a big bin. It turns out that his grandma was sick in the hospital and taught him how to knit when he spent a lot of time there. He made his older sister a hat. She told her friend that her brother had made it. That friend told her younger brother and word got around. The boys in his class started calling him a girl. He gave up knitting. He was just a kid, making stuff for fun. But being called a girl made him feel so bad about himself that he quit doing something he really enjoyed.” He sat back down.

The bell rang and they all left for their afternoon classes.

Kurt got a pass to Coach Sue’s office during the second half of last period. He got there and Mercedes was there too. Kurt knocked and opened the door. They went in and sat down.

“In appreciation for letting me play Madonna in your video, I have a plan for the two of you. I’d like Mercedes to join the Cheerios and perform with us at the pep rally this week. I’m sorry to say that it is too late to join the roster for Nationals, but you can still perform duets with Kurt for the rest of the season whenever they fit into my plans. I’ll have Becky take your measurements and have a uniform here for you by the pep rally. Be a practice after school. Now, get out of my office.”

They left the room and closed the door behind them.

“You’re a Cheerio? Since when?”

“Since before break. I’ve been practicing with them for about a month and I performed with them at Regionals this past weekend. I didn’t sing. It was just regular cheer stuff. And you can’t tell anyone. No one is supposed to know until the pep rally.”

“I can’t do any of that cheer stuff.”

“You heard her. She wants you to sing with me, not do flips and stuff. Please? It will be a lot of fun. We’ve never gotten to duet before.”

“Fine. You win, but if this blows up in my face, I’m quitting. I don’t have time for crazy Coach Sue drama. I’m going to go put my stuff away and get what I need for tonight before I go to the gym and let Becky measure me and see this crazy idea for myself.”

About 10 minutes later, the final bell rang and Dave, Kurt, and Mercedes met up in the gym.

“Don’t laugh,” she said to Dave. “I was conscripted. I’ll give it a week or two.”

“Does Azimio know yet?”

“Oh, hell no. It’s going to be a surprise for everyone.”

Dave laughed. “Got it. I’ll be sure to sit near him so I can see his jaw drop and his eyes pop out.”

“Whatever. I gotta go find Becky.”

A few minutes later, Coach Sue was barking orders through her megaphone and the Cheerios were following those orders to their utmost abilities.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Since the girls weren’t ready and the boys were still refusing to cooperate Thursday afternoon, Mr. Schue started to discuss options for Regionals.

“I’ve decided that we’re going to go with a Journey medley.”

Kurt rolled his eyes, but he had already had his chance to shine a Sectionals. He leaned into Dave more. He smiled when Dave kissed him right above the ear. He reached out and took his hand and interlaced their fingers.

“So at Sectionals, we featured Rachel, Kurt, Mercedes, Santana, and Finn. For Regionals, Artie and Tina will take the leads on ‘Faithfully’. Our second song, ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ is a work in progress.” He passed out the sheet music to ‘Anyway You Want It’. “We’re going to start with this one because I’ve divided out the lead between most of you. A few of you have told me that you don’t ever want a lead, so I have not given you one. Anyway, let’s try to run through this a few times. And yes, Kurt you are still singing alto. I hope that’s not a problem.”

“It’s fine. I know we are short on higher voices. We have nearly twice as many guys as girls now. If the alto part isn’t that high, one of the other guys might be able to sing it and I could sing second soprano to even out the balance even more if we need it.”

Mr. Schue just nodded and Brad start to play.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Friday afternoon after lunch, the Cheerios and the marching band assembled in the gymnasium for a warm up and run-through of the song they were going to perform for the pep rally. Fifteen minutes later, the Cheerios cleared the floor, the band stood along the end wall, and the students filled the bleachers.

On Coach Sue’s mark, the music started and the Cheerios performed “Ray of Light” with about half of them on stilts. They received thunderous applause. They exited the floor and the girls not on stilts helped the others get them off quickly. They reassembled in formation and did the routine that had used at Regionals. When they finished, the marching band moved into position and began to play. The Cheerios strutted in from behind with Mercedes and Kurt leading the way. The crowd loved their rendition of Madonna’s “Four Minutes”.

As soon as the performance ended, Mr. Schuester was on his feet, approaching Coach Sue. He immediately began questioning her about poaching Kurt and Mercedes.

Kurt spoke up, “You came in the other morning and watched us. Obviously, you were too mesmerized by the stilts to notice me up on them.”

Mr. Schue looked like he was replaying the practice in his mind, but coming up blank.

“Being in the Cheerios gives us more of an opportunity to shine. We’re doing both.”

Azimio and Dave were next onto the floor. Kurt threw his arms around Dave’s neck. Azimio kissed Mercedes on the cheek.

“Damn, that uniform looks fine on you, girl.”

“Thank you. I don’t know how permanent it will be, but we’ll see. I can’t compete at Nationals, but I can perform with them here at school.”

“Well, you two killed that song. Dave recorded it. Obviously, he knew.”

“Yeah. Kurt’s been practicing with them since before break. I just started this week. We were supposed to keep quiet about it until the pep rally.”

Kurt said, “Come on.” He pulled Dave by the hand. “We have to go back to class or we’re going to get in trouble. You recorded ‘Ray of Light’ too, right? I want to show my dad.”

“I did. I recorded the whole thing.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Late that afternoon, Dave and Kurt took the Navigator and picked Artie and Tina up and took them back to the Hummel’s. Mercedes and Azimio showed up right after they got back with Indian food for everyone. Azimio and Dave got Artie and his wheelchair inside. Kurt had already moved one of the dining chairs out of the way so Artie could sit up to the table. Kurt passed plates out and the girls started emptying the bags and passing the containers around the table.

“Okay, so what movie did you bring Mercedes?” Kurt asked.

“Nope. You know the rules. The movie’s a surprise. You’ll find out when I put it in and press play.”

“Fine. I can’t wait for everyone to see our video on Monday.”

Mercedes agreed. “It came out so good. I’m excited too.”

Tina asked, “What did the guys work on this week? I know Mr. Schue pulled you guys out for a special meeting.”

Azimio answered, “It was mostly just about how even though guys like to think that society considers men and women equal, that it doesn’t. Kurt made the guys think by what he said about how bullies called him a girl as one of the lowest insults. And as much as the guys like to think that they’re not sexist, we all are. I think it’s a good topic to talk about again and Mr. Schue should let the girls talk this time.”

“I agree,” Kurt said. “My statement wasn’t meant to take the place of listening to the girls’ perspectives. I would never dare to speak on the behalf of women. I’m not a girl. I just wanted something that the guys could think about quickly because a lot of them have never thought about gender equality.”

“I think we should get the girls together for a sleepover and actually work on a presentation of some sort. Maybe a song too,” Mercedes said.

“I think I know a good song, but we’d have to listen to it carefully to make sure.”

Kurt said, “I think it’s a great idea. As I said, I’m not a girl so I can’t speak for them, but one thing I don’t think most guys see that I do is that being a girl is performance art whenever any guy is around. Because girls have ignored my presence repeatedly, I’ve seen them go from what should I call it? ‘Girls only’ behavior to ‘girls performing femininity for guys’.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Azimio asked.

“I know what Kurt’s referring to,” Tina said. “When a bunch of girls get together, we’ll sit around and talk about a lot of different things. We might pig out on pizza or eat donuts. We’ll sit around in baggy t-shirts and shorts or sweats. We’ll just put our hair in ponytails or bandanas to get it out of our faces. We slouch all over the furniture and floor. We wear our glasses.”

Mercedes added, “And the fastest way to see how much girls are performing for guys would be to have a couple of guys show up unannounced and watch the girls scream and try to cover themselves or run into another room and lock the door. If more girls showed up, that would not happen at all. Of course, that’s only if all of the girls are friendly with each other. If you put rival girl groups it’s like no one will let their guard down and all of the girls will just stay in their ‘costumes’ in following along with the performance analogy.”

“That’s so weird,” Dave said.

“But the fact that the two of you didn’t already know this proves how little guys our age understand about girls’ lives,” Kurt said. “I’m not included as a girl, but the fact that they have no interest in ‘performing femininity’ for me has allowed me a glimpse into their world. And I honestly think the fact that I participate in some of their ‘beauty rituals’ for lack of a better word is probably what made my closet transparent. I never said I was gay until not that long ago, but my interest in my looks set me apart from the other guys. Whereas Dave would have never been on anyone’s radar for potentially being gay unless he was caught looking at other guys and looking interested. One week this school year, or even for a day, it would be an interesting social experiment for all of the Glee girls to show up the way they would dress if they didn’t care at all what guys thought about the way they looked. I wouldn’t ask them to do it for school, but maybe we could have everyone over to Dave’s house again and do it. I think it would be really good for the guys to see how much of what girls do is dictated by their desire to be accepted by males.”

Mercedes said, “I think it’s an interesting idea. Tina and I will talk about it with the girls.”

Everyone cleaned up and moved to the living room to watch the movie. Dave got Artie situated on the sofa. Tina snuggled up with him. Azimio and Mercedes sat on the other end of the sectional. Kurt and Dave had put the small couch back in the living room again and were snuggled up on it. Tina pressed the play button and the movie started.

“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs?” Azimio asked. “I went to see this with my little cousins. It’s pretty funny.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Glee Club continued to focus on Madonna the next week since the girls hadn’t performed yet and Finn was working on some group idea that he hadn’t explained very clearly. The girls met Monday at lunch to run through their number. Mercedes wouldn’t tell Azimio or Kurt any information.

Afterschool they met in the auditorium and the girls performed “Express Yourself” wearing different colored corsets and men’s suit jackets, looking very 80s. Will congratulated them on their performance. The girls changed back into their regular clothes and the whole group worked on some preliminary choreography for Regionals.

After they finished working on their choreography, the students went back to the choir room and Kurt and Mercedes showed the “Vogue” video they had created.

“Wow, that was really good. You two did a great job on that,” Mr. Schue said.

“We know,” Mercedes said with a confident grin on her face. She looked back over her shoulder at Kurt who winked at her.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

As soon as Glee was over, Kurt and Dave headed to the Navigator. Kurt practically dragged him out to the parking lot.

“What’s the big hurry?”

“I’m just excited. Come on.”

Dave laughed at his enthusiasm. He tossed his backpack in the backseat and got in the passenger seat. Kurt put his bag in the backseat as well and hopped in the driver’s side.

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”

“Nope. Lean this way, though.”

“What?”

Kurt kissed him. “I just wanted to kiss you. I love you.” Kurt kissed him again. He refocused and headed out of the parking lot.   Once they were out on the street, Kurt reached over the console and put his hand on Dave’s thigh.

Dave looked down and smiled. “I love you too. Do I get any hints?”

“We aren’t going skiing.”

Dave laughed. “That’s not much of a hint.”

“You didn’t ask for a helpful hint, but don’t bother. I’m not giving out helpful hints.”

Dave gave up and changed the topic. “Since I finished _Leviathan_ before we went to sleep last night, we could talk about that.”

“What was your favorite part?”

They discussed the book for the 30 minutes that it took Kurt to drive to the ice rink in Findlay. Dave was so into their conversation that they were about a block from the rink before he realized where Kurt was taking them.

“We’re going skating?”

“Yep.” Kurt pulled into a parking spot. “Your skates are in the back. I put them in when you in the shower last night. Ready?”

Kurt opened the back and Dave grabbed his skate bag. Kurt grabbed a bag too.

“You have your own skates?”

“I do.”

“I didn’t know you skated.”

“I guess you never asked. I figure skate. I took lessons when I was a kid. I competed in pairs skating. I continued until the end of elementary school, but the girl I skated with got so much taller than me that we didn’t make a good couple on the ice anymore because I couldn’t spin her or lift her at all. Continuing with figure skating in junior high would have just added to my torture. I wasn’t good enough to compete at a high enough level as a figure skater to make me ‘cool’ because I had Olympic potential, and I wasn’t big enough to attempt to play hockey instead. She got a new partner and started to train in Toledo.”

“I see.”

“My dad used to bring me here still, but I wore non-descript clothes and a plain brown knit hat to blend in better in case there were kids from school here when I was.” Kurt pulled the door open and they went inside.

They paid to get in and rented a locker to put their coats and shoes in. Kurt pulled his penguin hoodie out of his skate bag and put it on over the top of what he had on.

“There’s a hoodie in your bag too. I pulled your helmet out and left it with your hockey stick.”

“Thanks.” Dave slipped his hoodie on as well.

Once they both had their skates laced up they headed out onto the ice. They skated around the rink fairly slowly the first time around. Kurt hopped out and readjusted his laces a bit. Dave waited for him.

“It’s been too long,” Dave said. “I miss skating.”

They headed back out onto the ice and went at a faster pace the second time around.

“What about coming over on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday? I have to work until 7:00 anyway. You’d be able to stay in shape more easily since football is over and we don’t even have a basketball coach, even if you were willing to play just to stay in shape.”

“I guess I never really thought about it. I’ve never really just taken off and driven places on my own. I only got my truck right before we started going out. I’ll talk to my dad about it. I’ll see how soon I can join to start training for next year. We can look for a flyer or something before we leave.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

By the time they left, they were both tired and really hungry. They tossed their bags in the back and got in.

“You made me a fabulous dinner on our 3 month anniversary. This time, I’m taking you to dinner since I couldn’t cook and go skating. I’d like you to choose.”

“Hmm. That’s tough. I’m not really sure what all there is around here.”

“I’ll can drive over by the shopping area. That probably has the most choices, unless you want to use your phone to find a place.”

“Oooh. I know. My dad and I stopped at Penn Station once. That was really good. They have homemade fries and lemonade and hot subs.”

“Can you look up how to get there from here and give me directions?”

“Sure.”

It didn’t take long to get there. Once they were inside, they stood back for a few minutes so they could look at the menu. They made up their minds and got in line and ordered. Kurt waited for their food and Dave went to find a table. Kurt found him at the back of the restaurant in the corner booth. He started to sit down across from Dave.

“Sit next to me, please.”

“Okay.” Kurt put the tray down and sat down.

“I didn’t pick this spot to hide us, if that’s what you’re thinking. I picked this spot so we could talk more easily.” Dave kissed him on the cheek.

They took everything off the tray and moved it out of the way and started to eat.

“This is really good. I like it a lot.”

“So do I. I’m glad I remembered coming here.” Dave held his sandwich out offering Kurt a bite. “What do you think?”

“Yours is good too. Try mine.” Kurt let Dave take a bite of his.

“I like that too.”

Once they finished eating, Kurt drove them back to his house. Burt was home when they got there.

“How was skating?”

“Fun. It’s been too long since I’ve gone though. My legs are sore.”

“Mine too. I think I’m going to start going a couple of times a week to get back into shape. There’s no way I’ll be hockey team material if I don’t keep up with it.”

“Probably true. You two still have homework to do?”

“Mostly math problems. We never escape without math problems. And some history reading.”

“Well, get to it.”

“We will. I think I’m going to take a hot shower first though.”

The two of them headed down the stairs.

“You go first. I have some other homework I’ll work on.”

Once they had both showered and finished their homework, they put the ottoman down and slid it under the futon and pulled the futon down flat and put everything on it to go to sleep. Dave managed to slip the envelope he had into his pillowcase. Kurt brought the comforter out last and they lay down and covered up.

“I have something for you.”

“A kiss?” Kurt asked hopefully.

“You can have as many kisses as you want.”

“Hmm. I like that.”

“But this isn’t a kiss.” Dave pulled the envelope out and handed it to Kurt.

He opened and pulled out two tickets. “You got us tickets to the theater in Columbus?”

“It’s the only official Broadway tour show coming to Columbus any time soon.”

“I love _The 39 Steps_ movie. I’ve never seen the stage version.”

“I looked it up. The stage version is a comedy, a parody of the book and movie.”

“Interesting. No matter what, it will be awesome because I love going to live theater shows. And I get to go with you.” Kurt put the tickets on his desk and turned the light off.

Kurt rolled back over to face Dave, who was still lying on his side facing the center of the bed. Kurt reached out for him and ran his hand down Dave’s cheek. “Thank you. I love it and I love that I get to go with you. You do actually want to go, right?”

“Of course. I like the movie too. I guess we’ll see what we think of the play. We can watch the movie together before we go see it.”

“I didn’t even pay attention to when it is.”

“Next Friday night.”

“I’m so excited.” Kurt kissed him. “You are so sweet to me.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Thursday at lunch they went through the piece that Finn had chosen. He had asked everyone to wear red or white or both. They met up again after school and to everyone’s surprise, Mercedes had gotten the choir from her church to come in and sing with them. “Like a Prayer” was a huge success.

Kurt overheard the girls talking afterwards. Once the choir left, and they went back to the choir room, Mercedes stood up.

“The girls are holding a sleepover this Saturday at Rachel’s. We are inviting the guys to come Sunday morning for a discussion on gender issues led by the girls. Mr. Schue wanted the guys to think about things from a girls’ point of view, but anything he would say to you wouldn’t be from a girl’s perspective. So, we’re inviting all of the guys along with Miss Pillsbury and Mr. Schuester to meet us here at the school Sunday morning at 11:00. We’ll order pizzas or something for lunch. So bring some money to chip in.”

Santana was the one to speak next. “This is a one-time only offer. I’d suggest you show up. You’ll see why if you come. Oh, and Miss Pillsbury already said yes and will unlock the building so we can get in the doors by her office.”

“Alright then, Sunday morning it is. Next week, don’t forget our music genre is 80s rock in deference to the boys who were displeased with my 80s choice of Madonna these past two weeks. Try to choose a song that has some kind of personal meaning to you, if possible. Something that expresses something about you as a person.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sunday morning, the girls were really nervous about what they were getting ready to do. They were all in Rachel’s basement still.

“I don’t know if I can do this. Going in there dressed like this will drop my rep to pre-junior high level,” Santana said.

“I think you’re beautiful just like you are,” Brittany said.

“Thanks, Britt.”

“None of us looks like we normally do. At all,” Tina pointed out. “At least it’s Sunday and no one else will be there. Miss Pillsbury already agreed to collect all of the guys’ phones on the way into the room so that they can’t photograph us.”

“I’m burning the ‘after’ pictures we took,” Santana said.

“That’s fine,” Tina said. “I look like I’m 12. I’m certainly not keeping mine. And don’t worry. I deleted all of the files from the SD card. Once we burn the photos we printed out this morning, there will be no evidence.”

Rachel said, “We need to get going.”

They met Miss Pillsbury at 10:45 so they could set the room up the way they wanted to. They guys started arriving about 10:55. Miss Pillsbury made them put their phones in a box on the way in. She put the box on the shelf at the front of the room after all of the guys were there.

“I want to thank all of you for taking the time to show up this morning to listen to what the girls have to say. They’ll be in here in just a few minutes. What they are doing this morning is very brave. I expect you young men to be on your best behavior and to not insult them and to actually listen to what they have to say.” She sat down and waited with the guys.

The door opened and Tina stepped in followed by the rest of the girls. None of them looked at all like they normally did at school. Most of the guys didn’t do a great job of hiding their surprise.

Rachel said, “So, last night we met and we did makeovers and we took three photos of each of us. We’ve put them on the other side of this whiteboard. If you guys line up, you can come down and look at them.”

The 8 guys stood in a line with Artie in the center.

“Before I turn the board around, I want to tell you about the photos. The middle photo is how we normally do our make up and hair for school. The top photo is a glamour shot of sorts. We did our make up the way we would to go to prom or to some fancy event. The bottom picture is our ‘after’ picture – meaning after we’d showered and not done anything to ourselves to change our appearance.”

Santana stepped up. “I want you to know that showing up like this and letting you see us this way is stressful enough to make some of us actually feel sick.”

The two of them turned the whiteboard around.

Artie was the first to speak, “Your glamour shots are all really good. Whoever did the make up did a good job. You all look like you belong in magazines.”

“Thank you,” Tina said.

Finn asked, “Are we allowed to make truthful statements that aren’t meant to be mean?”

“Yes,” Miss Pillsbury said.

“Honestly, the ‘after’ shots look like what I remember you looking like in about 6th grade, Santana. It’s not that you weren’t beautiful then, but without the make-up, you look really young.”

Artie said, “The thing I notice is that the more make up you put on the bigger your eyes look in the photos. That focus on the eyes draws people in. But I agree with Finn. The no make up photos make all of you look younger and more innocent or vulnerable or something.”

Jesse said, “This isn’t directed at any one of the girls here in particular, but when I see the bottom photos, it sort of makes me think that you’re unhappy or sick or upset.”

Rachel spoke up, “I agree. I think that’s one of the things we want you guys to walk away from this discussion realizing. For us to look ‘normal’ in your eyes, we have to look like the middle photos. We have to have our hair done, our make up done, and we have to be pleasant and cheerful. We purposefully did not pose ourselves for our ‘after’ shots. We just looked directly at the camera and let the photos be taken.”

Mercedes said, “We want to talk about how being a girl is a constant performance that takes place mostly for guys or to ‘out perform’ other girls to stay at the top of the social ladder.”

Santana said, “If I came to school like I look in that bottom photo of me, wearing these glasses, without my Cheerios uniform on, none of you would give me a second look. Seriously, look at me now. If this is how I came to school every day,” she paused and turned slowly. “None of you would pay any attention to me, except maybe to purposefully ignore my presence and perhaps call me names if we ever bumped into each other or something.”

Brittany started passing around some photos. “Look at these and then pass them down. We managed to find a few photos of famous women without their make up on.”

While the guys were looking Rachel put more photos on the other side of the whiteboard and turned it around.

“Once you’ve all seen the photos, pass them back so each of you only has one photo and then bring it up here and match it to the made up version of the same person,” Rachel instructed.

Kurt matched his correctly. Puck managed to do his, but only because he looked carefully at the photos and the woman in his photo had very green eyes, which gave it away on close inspection. The others were stumped. Rachel took the photos out of their hands and matched them herself.

“I’m nearly positive that none of you would describe the bottom row as beautiful women, but you had always considered this women to be beautiful before today,” Rachel said. “We get up every morning and we fret about what clothes to wear, how to do our hair, how much make up to wear. If we wear too much, we’re slutty. If we don’t wear any, we look sickly.” Rachel pushed the whiteboard back. “Sit down in the front row, please.”

The girls all grabbed chairs and sat facing them.

Santana said, “Raise your hand if you spend more than 10 minutes in the shower each day.”

“You mean like in the morning before we come to school?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

All of the girls raised their hands, plus Kurt.

“How many of you do something to your fingernails besides bite them or use nail clippers on them?”

Again, the same response.

Santana went through a whole list of personal hygiene questions, all of them yielding the same results, minus the body hair removal. Dave raised his hand on shaving part of his body daily, but Kurt did not.

Mercedes said, “What we wanted you all to learn from this is that our so-called ‘normal’ look takes a lot of time and effort to achieve. And that amount of effort is considered to be the baseline. When you ask us out on dates, you might spend five extra minutes putting on a button up shirt and tucking it in and putting on some kind of shoes that aren’t athletic shoes, but we put in a lot more time to make ourselves look better than our baseline, which we already put a lot of time into.”

Tina spoke up next. “I know you saw Kurt’s hand go up for pretty much everything the girls did. When he does these things, they’re considered inappropriate for guys. He’s metrosexual at best, and gay otherwise. All any of you would have to do to get classified as gay with Kurt would be to put it half the effort one of us girls does each day to just be presentable, to be acceptable socially. If he does it, he’s targeted. If we don’t do it, we’re targeted. That’s not equality.”

“Girls constantly compete. Why don’t guys get up an hour early each morning and do everything we do?”

Azimio answered, “Because we’re at the top. We make the rules. We’re the ones who decide who’s valuable and who isn’t worth our time. If women were at the top, men would straighten up real quick. If a guy only ever got laid because he primped himself up like some peacock, there’d be a lot nicer dressed guys. But it’s the girls competing for the best guy, so they’re the ones that put in all the effort into getting noticed.”

They continued to discuss different issues for a while. When the pizzas came, they lined up and took slices and sat back down.

“The last topic I wanted to bring up is food,” Rachel said. “While it is true that due to the size difference between someone like me and Finn, being the shortest and tallest in the group, that we would eat different quantities of food, the same isn’t really true between Brittany and Kurt or Matt. And Brittany is an athlete too. Sue trains the Cheerios hard. But in a group of mixed company, girls will almost always eat less than actually fills them up because of social pressure to be thin. Girls are more likely to suffer from all types of eating disorders. Women are much more likely to seek out liposuction and plastic surgery of all types. We get teased for eating like birds AND we get teased for eating like pigs if we eat the same amount as a guy of similar size.”

Brittany was the last to speak. “Everything we talked about is like Goldilocks. Girls work all the time to be ‘just right’.”

Santana finished her line of thought. “We have to find the line between too much and not enough, and it’s really hard. How much is too much make up? How much is not enough? When is it okay to excel in a subject and speak up in class? When is it time to keep quiet and pretend like we don’t know anything? Men want smart women who always make them feel smarter. How does that work? We’re constantly trying to balance so many things. Guys, for the most part, are exempt from most of that.”

“We’re willing to talk to you individually at this point while we all eat and we’ll stay around to answer questions,” Tina said.

Miss Pillsbury stood up, “I want to thank all of the girls for being so brave and sharing so much about their lives with us today. I know it was hard and I appreciate them being willing to put so much effort into helping the guys understand some of what it’s like to be a teenage girl. I would welcome any of the guys who wish to share the pressures of being a teenage guy with the group to feel free to come to me to make arrangements for another time for that.”

Before she ate, Santana took all of the ‘after’ pictures down and put them in her backpack.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

That afternoon Dave went home and worked on his song for Monday while Kurt did so in a round about way. He decided to see how his dad would react if he did what the girls had done. If he dressed like a regular guy and did nothing to his hair and didn’t wear any make up, would other people’s views of him actually change the way the girls talked about?

He stopped by Goodwill and grabbed a flannel shirt off the 99 cent rack and a puffer vest. He texted Dave and pulled up in the driveway and picked up the baggy jeans that Dave had kept for Kurt to do projects in. He went home and ran the shirt through the washer and dryer quickly while he reshowered and then did nothing but run a comb through his hair when he got out of the shower. He redressed a t-shirt, the baggy jeans, the flannel shirt, hiking boots, and the vest. He ran upstairs to his dad’s room and grabbed one of his baseball caps. He looked at himself in the mirror and practically didn’t recognize himself.

“Perfect.”

He waited on the couch for his dad to get back from the errands he had gone out to run. He played Mellencamp on the stereo while he waited.

“Kurt?”

Kurt lowered his voice intentionally to sound more masculine than usual, “Yeah, Dad?”

“What’s with the music and the get up?”

“I’m working on my Glee Club assignment, ‘Pink Houses’ by John Mellencamp.”

“Oh, really? I didn’t think that was in your wheelhouse.”

“Yeah, I think it’s really brave for a Midwesterner like himself to write a song about such bold interior design.”

“You know that’s not what the song is about?”

“Mmm, really?”

“It’s about how the 80s were a tough time for a lot of people and how the American dream isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

“Hmm. Fascinating. Hey, how about we go grab a couple of burgers and you can tell me more about it?”

“Sure, but I gotta be honest, that’s pretty much what every Mellencamp song is about. But you know, I’ll get my coat. Anything to help you out.”

“Burgers and salads. No fries.”

“Fine. Where’s Dave? You’re hardly ever here without him.”

“He’s working on his assignment too.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday at lunch all of the guys at the school who had been on a sports team in the past year were called to the gymnasium.

Coach Sue blew a whistle. “I have a quick announcement to make. Everyone quiet down.”

Once they were quiet, she began to speak again. “This is Mr. Ackerman. He’s been hired as the interim basketball and baseball coach. He will also be teaching the boys’ PE classes. We know the season is about half over, but we’ve checked all of the rules and the team can compete. It may be virtually impossible to make it into the playoffs, but if the team does well, we may still be able to attract some scouts. And whether that happens or not, you can still get off your butts and play a sport until baseball starts. Tryouts start tomorrow afterschool here in the gym. Now, get out of here and get to the cafeteria.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt had kept track of the number of comments he had gotten on his outfit throughout the day. When it came time for Glee, he shuffled in and leaned against the piano until Mr. Schue acknowledged him and let him sing first. He belted out “Pink Houses” and the looks on the faces of the Glee Club members really needed to be documented. He wished he had had the forethought to record them watching him. When he finished, Mr. Schue was the first to speak.

“I’m not sure how that song has anything to do with you, Kurt. I asked you to choose something that told us something about you or meant something to you personally.”

“If you were paying attention to the lyrics, the song really fits with what we were talking about yesterday. About the American dream and trying to make it to the top. And the choice of clothing was based on what we discussed yesterday as well. Despite being male, I had more in common with the girls in the group when we were talking about grooming habits and what not, so I decided to run my own little experiment today about dressing down like the girls did yesterday. We were discussing gender roles. And it’s been suggested to me before that if I were to work harder at blending in that my life would be easier. So, for today I did everything in my power to blend in. I even went to the meeting for the jocks that Coach Sue called at lunchtime. I got more weird looks today than I did the last time I wore a kilt and that’s saying something. What I learned is that I think I would have to run the experiment somewhere else, where everyone didn’t already know me. Anyway, this song is personal to me because Mellencamp is my dad’s favorite singer, so this song reminds me of him and how hard he’s worked to make a home for the two of us. And as for the style of music, I thought that was what he had discussed about this. That we’re using these assignments to stretch our skills and see what we might be good at that we weren’t already aware of.”

“I get it. Have a seat. Who’s next?”

Dave stood up. He was wearing a pair of acid washed jeans and a black turtleneck with a black vest over it that he had changed into after school. “This song is personal to me for more than one reason, and I have no intention of sharing the reasons, so please don’t ask. This is one of the most popular songs from the 80s.” The band started to play “Never Gonna Give You Up.”

Kurt smiled through the whole song.

When Dave finished, everyone clapped. He sat down and put his arm around the back of Kurt’s chair.

“Nice job, Dave. I have one announcement to make before anyone else gets up to sing. Effective immediately, we will be meeting 30 minutes before school every day. As most of you already know by now, a new basketball coach has been hired and he will be running practices afterschool in the gym, so Coach Sue has commandeered the auditorium for the cheerleaders, who are preparing for Nationals. In order to use the auditorium to rehearse for Regionals, we’ll have to meet before school. Sorry guys, but that’s just the way it is. I know that she needs the gym at least one day a week, so we’ll try to snag the auditorium in the afternoons whatever day that is. I’ll let you know as soon as possible. Whoever wants to sing next can come on down.”


	11. Chapter 11

When Glee Club dismissed, Brittany approached Kurt and Dave before they left the room.

“So, I really like this look on you, Kurt.” She put her hand on his chest. You look really good in flannel. Not that I don’t like your other clothes. They’re very stylish and make you look like the guys in fashion magazines.”

“Thank you?”

“Like, I know you’re gay and all, like capital G gay, but you’re both really hot. And I’ve made out with pretty much all of the good looking guys at this school and it would mean a lot to me to have a perfect record.”

Kurt’s eyebrows bunched at the center and he tilted his head.

“Brittany, you do realize that Dave is my boyfriend, right?”

“Yeah, of course. You don’t have to break up. We can all make out together. I don’t mind. Watching you two together would be super hot. Now, I see why guys like watching me and Santana.”

Kurt pursed his lips, trying to figure out what to say next. “We’re exclusive, Britt. Just me and Dave. No one else.”

“Okay, well, if you change your mind and want to tap this, just let me know.” She turned and flounced off to walk with Santana.

Dave finally spoke, “Okay, that was the weirdest thing ever.”

“If I had to try to figure out a logical explanation… Nope, nothing. I can’t come up with a single logical explanation for that.” He laughed. “Let’s just go on like that never happened.”

“Good call.” Dave looked back over his shoulder and saw Brittany and Santana standing at Britt’s locker looking down the hall towards him and Kurt. He turned back around and shook his head and laughed. “Don’t look back, but from the look on Santana’s face, Brittany seems to be telling Santana that she didn’t succeed in seducing us.”

Kurt shook his head and kept walking.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Tuesday morning, Dave and Kurt were in the kitchen plating their breakfasts when Paul walked in.

“So, are you going to try out for the basketball team?” He snatched a piece of bacon off Dave’s plate and stuck it in his mouth.

“If you mean me, not a chance. I’m not signing up for a sport that provides me no padding and face-to-face contact with the players on the opposing team. Plus, I’m a Cheerio now. I’m not sure how that will work next fall, now that I think about it.”

Paul laughed. “What about you, Dave?”

“I don’t think so. I’ve never played competitively and it just doesn’t really appeal to me. I’d rather go over to Findlay a couple of afternoons a week and skate.”

“I guess I’ll be losing who knows how many evenings to cheer now. I hadn’t really thought about it. Ugh. I told her I wouldn’t cheer at the away games, but I’m going to have to dig deep to act like I’m enthusiastic about the basketball team.”

Paul laughed at Kurt. “I’m sure you can pull it off. I’ve got to get going. See you both later.”

“Bye, Dad.”

Once Dave heard the front door shut, he pulled Kurt close and kissed him. “I’ll come watch you cheer.”

“Well, that will make it at least sort of fun.”

“Only sort of?”

“Yeah. Because if I didn’t have to cheer, I could just be spending time with you.”

Dave kissed him again. “It won’t be that bad.”

“You say that now, but Coach Sue will add more practices since all we’ve been doing is working on our Nationals routine. If we have to cheer for games, we’ll need other routines for that.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

That evening afterschool Kurt and Burt were near the snack tables that had been set up for the spring parent/teacher conferences. Kurt was trying to keep Burt from snacking on things that weren’t allowed on his diet. Burt was trying to distract him and sneak a few things.

“Who’s that?” Burt asked quietly.

Kurt looked up and looked in the direction Burt was looking. Burt managed to stick an Oreo in his mouth.

Kurt answered, “Oh, that’s Finn’s mom.” He had met her after Sectionals when she came back to find Finn afterwards.

“Finn’s mom. She’s not wearing a ring.”

“Finn’s dad is dead. He died when Finn was a baby.”

“I remember. I just meant it doesn’t look like she’s engaged or remarried.”

“Oh. Do you want me to introduce the two of you? Follow me.”

Burt took a drink of his water to wash down the Oreo the rest of the way. He walked behind Kurt.

“Mrs. Hudson?”

“Yes? Oh, hello. It’s Kurt, right?”

“Yes. Kurt Hummel. I thought you might like to meet my dad. The two of you didn’t get to meet back at Sectionals. Burt Hummel…”

“Carole Hudson. Nice to meet you. Kurt’s a heck of a kicker. I saw him at all the football games.”

“Well, Finn is a fine quarterback. The team did really well this year winning the Regionals game.”

Kurt smiled. He stepped away and let the two of them talk. He went out in the hall and texted Dave.

\--Where are you?

It took a few minutes to get a response.

\--Can’t talk. Next in line.

Kurt just went back into the room and leaned against the wall and watched his dad flirt with Finn’s mom.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt came out of Dave’s bathroom in his pajamas and got in bed with Dave. “I can’t believe my dad actually asked her out. They’re out on their first date already. He hasn’t dated anyone since my mom died.”

“I found out on the way to the school that my dad has been casually dating Judy Fabray.”

“What?”

“I was surprised too. I guess she and her husband got divorced last fall not all that long after my mom left. I didn’t ask for details.”

“So, that’s just weird for both of us. Your dad is dating Quinn’s mom and my dad might be dating Finn’s mom.”

“I guess he’s been having her over for dinner here at the house when I’m over at your house. I’m guessing that’s why he suggested that I spend Wednesdays and Saturdays at your place.”

“I see.” Kurt laughed. “Will you turn your light off?”

“Sure.” Dave reached out and turned the knob. “Better?”

“Yeah. Are you ready to go to sleep?”

“We can if you’re tired.”

“I want to snuggle and kiss, but I don’t want to keep you up if you’re tired. I know you went skating this afternoon.”

“I did, but unless I’m passing out tired, I’d never turn down kisses. And I’d snuggle you, even if I was too tired to kiss.” Dave moved his arm so that Kurt could scoot up next to him, and then wrapped his arm around him.

Kurt put his hand on Dave’s chest. “I’m really excited about Friday.”

“Me too. It’s going to be fun. Even if we end up not liking the stage version, it will still be fun to dress up and go out to dinner and to see the show.”

“I would have never guessed you as the type to enjoy that kind of thing, but I’m glad you do.” Kurt moved his hand up Dave’s chest to his cheek, and then ran his hand down Dave’s jaw and trailed his thumb across his lips. “You were hiding a lot of stuff under that gruff character you were pretending to be.”

“Hey, now. I’m still tough.”

Kurt scooted up a little, turned Dave’s face toward him, and kissed Dave passionately. He pulled back a bit after a few minutes and placed a few gentle chaste kisses on Dave’s lips. “Oh, I know. Very tough.” He ran his hand down Dave’s shoulder to his bicep. “Very tough, very hot.” Kurt ran his fingers over Dave’s muscles before he began kissing him just as passionately again. He ran his fingers the rest of the way down Dave’s arm. He started kissing across Dave’s jaw, towards his ear, and then quietly said, “One day, I’ll get to explore all of your lovely muscles.”

That sent shivers through Dave. “Oh, God. You’re going to kill me and I’m going to die a happy man.”

Kurt laughed silently and licked at Dave’s ear and kissed down his neck.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Wednesday evening, Kurt came home from work to find Dave in the kitchen working on their dinner.

“Well, don’t you make a handsome househusband. So domestic and sexy in my kitchen. Whatcha’ cooking?” He kissed him without touching him.

Dave laughed at him. “Househusband? Go shower, you grease monkey. It will be ready when you get back up here.”

Kurt came back up 15 minutes later to find Dave in the dining room waiting for him.

“This looks good. Thank you.” He leaned over and kissed him before he sat down.

“There was a note on your fridge saying that your dad went out with Carole and won’t be back until later.”

“Again? They must have hit it off last night.”

“And it’s Wednesday, so my house is occupied. Do you have a lot of homework?”

“Just math problems.”

“Movie?”

“Sure.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Thursday at lunch, Miss Pillsbury had the Glee Club meet again to discuss gender issues. She tried to get the guys to talk, but she wasn’t having much success.

Puck stood up. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but fuck it. Here’s what I have to say. Some guys, quite a few actually, don’t have dependable fathers. Their only role models are the men they see in movies or on TV or maybe a teacher. But we all know that none of those examples are good enough. Movies and TV are fake. They teach guys to be violent and not to show their emotions. To not be open and honest. They teach men that women are prizes or possessions. Teachers might be better examples, but we don’t see how they deal with real life problems. We can’t go to them and say, ‘My dad beats my mom and so I don’t really know any other method of dealing with my frustration than to beat up whoever made me angry.’ We don’t know how to be open because if we ever share a weakness with another guy, it gets used against us. Guys are just as gossipy as girls. So, if a guy cries and tells another guy something he’s upset about, it doesn’t take long before all of the other guys are calling him a crybaby or a wus or a fag or a girl. We get that calling guys a ‘girl’ is an insult. And it’s something all guys try to avoid getting called. We keep everything inside. We don’t have share-your-feelings sleepovers. We have blow-crap-up and drink-too-much-alcohol overnight parties. Guys like me and Finn, we don’t have dads to teach us how to be men. But at least some guys, like Finn, have good moms who do their best to teach their sons how to be good men. Getting together the other day and hearing the girls talk was a good idea. I have a little sister. It helps me to know what kinds of things she’s going to face as a teenager. Now, I can maybe listen a little better and know a little more how to help her or at least maybe realize when she needs help and find someone else to help her. But you girls have to realize that guys have a ton of pressure put on us too. The one thing that the girls have going for them by being girls is that most high school guys won’t actually physically bully girls. I know from what you’ve all said that the girls do a damn good job of bullying each other, but guys who don’t fit in – they get the crap beat out of them by people like me and some of the other guys in here who wanted to be at the top of the social ladder. Just ask Kurt and Dave. Miss Pillsbury pointed out how brave the girls were to show up that day with no make up and in sweats or whatever. But Kurt and Dave are a lot more brave to do something as simple as hold hands in public in this town. Guys are terrified of not being tough enough. And it’s just stupid. When we get out of here in a few years and start to look for jobs, no one is going to hire us based on how many dweebs we dumpstered. We won’t get hired because we have the record for the most dorks stuffed in lockers. But we act like it. Everyone gives the jocks and bullies this social standing that they don’t deserve. But the system stays the way it is. Azimio and I stood our ground after his coup. But it barely kept the issues down. The hockey players that got expelled – that made it a little better. The jocks are still on top for no real reason. They’re just being less outwardly jerkish. We’re basically bullying them into not being bullies. It’s crazy when you think about it. I don’t know how to change all of it. And the girls’ issues run a lot deeper than just high school. I don’t know. Maybe if school teachers had multi-million dollar contracts and when they graduated from college they went into a draft where schools got to bid on them and companies paid millions of dollars for teachers to wear their logos, more guys would want to become teachers.”

Everyone laughed.

Mr. Schue said, “Puck has a point, well a lot of good points actually. The guys in high school see professional athletes making more money in a year than most people make in a lifetime. Wanting that for themselves makes sense. In a small town like this, no one is likely to make more than $200,000 a year, and most people make closer to $20,000-$30,000. So, it makes sense that guys who have even the tiniest potential of making mega millions would want that for themselves. But wanting to make a lot of money doesn’t mean that you need to bully your way to the top.”

Kurt spoke up, “Honestly, Mr. Schue, I would prefer it if you kept quiet on this topic. You did nothing to stop Puck or the others from dumpster tossing me. You need to spend some time doing some navel gazing of your own before you begin to make suggestions on how teenagers should change their behavior. Puck and Azimio have done more to end the bullying at this school than you ever have.”

“Burn! Is that true, Mr. Schue? Did you actually know that Kurt was getting dumpstered and do nothing about it?” Santana asked.

“Technically, yes. They waited until I had walked past, but they never waited long enough for me not to hear what they were doing.”

Puck spoke up, “This is part of what I was referring to about the teachers being role models. It’s hard to look up to them when they don’t stand up for what’s right. It makes it seem like it’s okay to do the things we did. Now that the topic’s been brought up, you knew we were tossing slushies in people’s faces. But you also knew that Figgins wouldn’t do anything about it. But I’m pretty sure he would have done something about the dumpster tosses, even if it was just to lock the lids before and after school. Anyway, what I stood up to say was that I appreciate the girls sharing all of that stuff, but I hope that they can see that even though the boys have higher status or whatever, that we still have our own issues to deal with. I want the girls to know that I realize that they have a lot of struggles and I understand better than I did before. But what I want them to realize is that if they could magically change into guys their lives wouldn’t suddenly become easy.”

Miss Pillsbury spoke, “Thank you, Noah. I really appreciate your participation. I oftentimes think it would be really helpful for the girls and guys to pair up with in non-romantic pairs. Oftentimes, the only time teen girls and guys interact in a one-on-one situation is with someone they are romantically interested in and that skews both people’s behavior. For example, if Mercedes spent time with Mike, they could learn a lot about gender roles as well as race issues. If Matt spent time with Rachel, the same thing could be accomplished. But those types of platonic friendship pairings are not part of teen life very often. I do think it would be very interesting though. Mike and Matt are very quiet by nature, so we rarely hear anything about their lives. But I’m pretty certain that if, let’s say, Finn went to Mike’s house for dinner that he would find a very different atmosphere than he does in his own home. I would imagine that Puck would find dinner at Artie’s house quite different as well. Just as Puck already mentioned not having a father in his home has affected how he has struggled to know his role in society, Mike having a very strong father figure in his home has made his life very different.”

Surprising everyone, Mike spoke briefly, “My father is a very soft-spoken man with very exacting requirements for me, so I’m sure my home life is so different from Finn’s that it would be hard to find any similarities. For example, I have never heard my father yell. Yet, no one in my home would consider doing something against his wishes. It’s very difficult to explain to people, but it’s true.”

“My dad yells all the time,” Azimio said. “My house is like a circus. Little cousins running everywhere. People over all the time. I can’t imagine living some place quiet. That would be so weird.”

Mike said, “I don’t see how you can get any studying done.”

Azimio laughed. “Noise cancelling headphones and a good lock on my door.”

“This is a really good start. I would like to suggest that perhaps the group consider doing a sort of exchange student project. I think it would be really good for Finn to eat dinner at Azimio’s house and then spend a couple of hours there. The same would be true for Puck eating with Mike’s family and spending the evening. There is so much you could all learn from just spending a few hours with someone. No one would be asking you to become close friends with anyone, but you could all gain a lot of understand about just HOW different other people’s lives are. In this room, I am certain that there is at least one student who isn’t required to do any chores. And I am certain that there is at least one student who does all of the chores. Some of you have never worked a minute in your life. Others of you have worked ever since you were old enough to persuade someone to pay you to do something for them. Some of you have parents who just give you how much ever money you ask for, while others get an allotted amount that cannot be changed, an allowance. And there are others whose parents will give you money for something like a school field trip or equipment you need for an activity, but no other money outside your allowance. And I am certain that some of you pay for everything yourselves.”

The students listened and most of them kept their responses guarded, not wanting to identify which group they fell into.

“Think about that. Just that. Think about how different your own life would be if you suddenly got an allowance or if you suddenly got no allowance. What if your parent or parents bought you anything you asked for and still gave you money for whatever you wanted? What if you had to buy everything you own yourself? Just that one issue – money. How would that change your school performance? If you didn’t have your own computer, if you had to work, if you had no desk, how would those things affect your ability to do well in school? What about the opposite? If you could buy any computer you wanted, if you had access to a quiet study area, if you didn’t have to work or care for siblings, how would that affect your schoolwork?”

Artie said, “We should talk about these things in a class. Teachers make us memorize useless facts about things that happened a thousand years ago and we learn nothing about how to deal with our own problems. Teachers ignore the problems they see. And honestly, we’re young still. I’m 15. I don’t have any life experience but my own to draw from. And obviously my life experience is nothing like anyone else’s in this room. My parents are overly attentive because of my physical limitations, but the most annoying thing is when I meet new people and they talk to me like I’m stupid because I’m in this chair or they talk around me like I’m not even there. But I’m all for this idea of seeing how other teenagers live. I’ve only been to Kurt’s, Dave’s, and Tina’s as far as people in this room, but I’m open to seeing how other people live and learn more about issues other people face.”

Miss Pillsbury smiled. “Maybe if there is enough interest, we can work on a plan. For now, I’m glad that Noah and the rest of you that spoke up shared your feelings. I know everyone has to get to class now.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Friday at lunch, Puck, Azimio, and Finn each brought two trays full of pizza slices and put them on the table where the rest of the Glee Club was sitting.

“Help yourselves. We already ate a couple of slices. It’s not poisoned,” Puck said.

“You three made these pizzas?” Tina asked.

“We did. Kurt inspired us to learn to cook for ourselves,” Azimio said. “It’s lame to eat cereal for dinner just ‘cause my momma ain’t home. He said we ought to go talk to Mrs. Hagberg.”

Puck started talking. “She was all for it. She said they were close to cutting the class entirely because so few people sign up. She’s been teaching other subjects because there was only one period of Home Ec.”

“They roped me and some of the other jocks into joining them,” Finn said. “It’s pretty cool though. We learned to make spaghetti last week and pizza this week. The first week we had to learn the names of a whole bunch of kitchen stuff and pass a test on how to use a fire extinguisher and stuff. The best part is that on Fridays, we get to eat our assignments.”

“Of course it is,” Kurt said.

“Sound cool,” Tina said.

“We’re gonna to learn to make other stuff like homemade mac and cheese, chili, tacos, and some kind of enchilada casserole thing,” Azimio said.

Finn added, “I asked for her to teach us how to make biscuits and gravy because I love it. So, we’re doing that and some other breakfast stuff too later in the year. She said making gravy requires more skill than it seems or something.”

Kurt said, “Sounds like she did a great job coming up with plans to suit the needs of the class.”

Finn changed the subject. “I’m psyched about tonight’s game. I didn’t think we were going to get to play basketball this year, but I wish our first game was a home game.”

“Is Mr. Atkinson any good at coaching?” Kurt asked.

“Yeah, man. He’s decent. He’s like super young. He hasn’t even graduated from college yet. This is his last semester. He still goes to class in the mornings and then comes here to teach gym in the afternoon and coach after school. He’s letting Puck train the team like he did in football. Azimio was lame and didn’t try out though.”

“Dude, I don’t play basketball.”

Dave stuck his hand on Kurt’s thigh and started lightly tracing patterns and Kurt zoned out during the jock talk at the table.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave went home and packed while Kurt was at Cheerios practice. He was waiting outside the gym doors when practice ended. Kurt came out and jumped in. Dave drove them to the Hummel’s. Kurt showered, got dressed, and primped as quickly as he could. Dave put Kurt’s stuff in the Navigator while Kurt got ready. He came back downstairs after he had finished and changed his clothes.

“Ready yet?” Dave asked once he was dressed.

“Almost.” Kurt came out carrying his suit jacket. He bit his lower lip as his eyes traveled up and down checking Dave out.   “You clean up nice.”

“Thanks. You look great, as always. Ready?”

“Definitely.” He slipped his suit jacket on and followed Dave up the stairs.   He saw Dave putting an unfamiliar coat on. “Nice coat.”

“It’s the one I mentioned that I had that I don’t wear often.”

“I like it.”

“Good, since you’re the one looking at me wear it.” Dave winked at him.

Kurt opened the closet and pulled out a wool pea coat, fairly similar to the one Dave was wearing. He slipped it on and grabbed a scarf. He saw that Dave wasn’t wearing one and chose one of his scarves and put it on Dave. “Perfect.” He stepped just a bit closer and pecked him on the lips.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They made it to Columbus in plenty of time for their reservation. Kurt pulled into the parking lot and found a place to park.

“This is exciting. I’ve never been to a fancy restaurant and I really happy to be going with you.” Kurt squeezed Dave’s hand.

Dave pulled Kurt’s hand up to his lips and pushed his glove up enough that he could kiss the skin on the inside of Kurt’s wrist. “Me too. Let’s go in.”

They didn’t have to wait to be seated. The followed the hostess to their table. They hung their coats on the backs of their chairs and sat down. They looked through their menus and made their choices.

“One day maybe we’ll find a place similar to this like they have in the movies where couples can dance. Any couples.”

Kurt looked around. “It does look like one of those restaurants that should have a dance floor somewhere.”

Their food was brought out promptly and they enjoyed what they ordered and had a good time talking with each other. When they finished, they headed back out, hand in hand.

Kurt walked with Dave around to the passenger side and gently pushed him back against the side of the Navigator and kissed him before Dave could reach the door handle. “I love you.” He stepped back to see the huge surprised smile on Dave’s face.

“I love you too.”

Kurt went back around and got in and drove to the theater. He parked in a nearby lot and paid the $10 parking fee so they wouldn’t have to keep looking for a place on the street. They walked to the theater hand in hand. When they got inside, they checked their coats, turned their phones to silent, and found their seats. When the lights went down, Kurt reached over and put his hand on Dave’s leg. Dave put his hand on top and interlaced their fingers.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt dropped Dave off at the office and waited for him to come back out.

“Room 22,” he said when he got back in.

Kurt drove along the building until he saw room 22 and pulled into the spot in front of the door.

“This place obviously isn’t as nice as the place we stayed in Kentucky, but my dad says it’s clean. He stays here whenever he has to be in Columbus two days in a row.”

“I’m sure it’s fine. Your dad would never get us a room someplace he didn’t trust.”

They got out and grabbed their stuff out of the back. Dave unlocked the door and stepped inside. He held it open for Kurt and locked it once Kurt was inside.

“I’m going to shower and change,” Kurt said. “I brought a garment bag to put our suits in when we take them off.” He opened his bag and pulled it out, along with two wood hangers. He took one of the hangers and his pajamas into the bathroom with him.

Dave showered while Kurt did his nighttime skin care routine. He came out when Kurt was packing the bottles back up.

“One day, I’ll get you to at least put moisturizer on.”

“Sure thing, Fancy.” He grabbed Kurt around the waist and picked him up and tossed him on the bed.

Kurt laughed. “I’m sure we can work out SOME kind of arrangement.”

“Is that so?” Dave leaned down and kissed him. “So, where are we going tomorrow?”

“Nope. My lips are sealed.”

Dave kissed him again. “Really? I think maybe I can loosen them up a bit.” He pressed his lips to Kurt’s and licked his way in and they kissed until they both ended up breathless.

“Who am I to prevent you from trying?”

Dave laughed took Kurt up on his invitation.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“You cannot tell my dad that we ate breakfast at McDonald’s.”

Dave laughed. “He’d be too jealous. I promise to keep it a secret. Do I get to know the secret of where we’re going yet?”

“Nope. It’s a surprise.”

“Still?”

“Yep.”

Kurt pulled out of the lot and drove about 15 minutes and pulled into an arena.

“Grab your skates. I hid them in the box in the back.”

“You’re sneaky.”

Kurt leaned over the console and kissed him. “You love it.”

“I do. Let’s go.”

Kurt opened the back and opened the box. They both pulled their skates out and Kurt shut the hatch.

“I do have one question though. As much as I love skating, why are we doing it here when there are so many things to do here that we can’t do near Lima?”

“You’ll see.”

They got inside and went down to the ice and put their skates on. One of the guys out on the ice skated over to the edge.

“Kurt?”

“That’s me.”

“And you must be Dave, then?”

“I am.”

“Welcome to Gay Hockey Ohio.”

“Do what? Sorry, excuse me?”

“Surprise!” Kurt said. “There’s a gay hockey club here.”

“Come on out on the ice. I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Two hours later, Dave looked up and down the hall before he pulled Kurt into the family bathroom with him.

“What are you doing?”

“Finding the closest place to do this.” He put his hand behind Kurt’s neck and gently pulled him forward into a kiss. “You are the best boyfriend in the whole world. I would have never even looked for something like this. I had no idea.”

“You’re welcome. Come on. We can go make out in the backseat or something.”

Dave laughed and opened the door. He took Kurt’s hand and they went back out to the parking lot. “What’s next?”

“Well, nothing else like this. There are some LGBT friendly dance clubs, but we have to be 18 to get in, so that will just have to be something we look forward to in a year and a half or so.”

“I’m not sure that I’m much of a club dancer, but you would probably love it.” Dave wiggled his eyebrows. “And I’ll get to watch and I’ll keep anyone from putting their hands on you.”

“Protective much?”

“You bet. Just like you told Brittany. Just us.”

Kurt laughed. “Just us.”

They put their skates in the back and got in the Navigator.

“I think we should grab lunch first and then we’ll move on to our final destination of the day.”

“Which is?”

“You’ll see. Come here.”

Dave leaned towards him.

Kurt kissed him. “I like surprising you. It’s fun.”

“You just like to be in charge.”

“You said you liked bossy.”

“I do, but only from you.”

Kurt laughed.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“You are hands down, the best day planner ever,” Dave said. “That was sooo much fun. We have to come back here and bring enough money to race the go karts too.”

“Now that we have those release forms, we can. I couldn’t get them online and they have to be signed for drivers under 18. We’ll definitely do it the next time we go there. But you’re right. The laser tag was so much fun.”

“I bet our dads would like the go karts.”

“They probably would.”

“So, are we heading back?”

“Nope. I fibbed. We’re going one more place.”

Dave laughed. “I suppose it’s a surprise too.”

“Now, you’re getting the hang of this,” Kurt teased.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave and Kurt got back in the Navigator after their last stop.

“That was too much fun. I haven’t seen either of those since I was like six. I had no idea of the adult humor that was in them.”

“Well, _Toy Story 3_ is coming out in a few months and I thought this would be a fun way to get ready to watch the new one.”

“It was great. You set the bar pretty high for dates. I’m never going to be able to top things like this.”

“It’s not a competition. I loved last night. Every bit of it was totally romantic. Us going out to a fancy place in suits and then to the theater. Amazing. And totally as awesome as the plans I made for us for today. And seriously, whatever you plan, whenever we decide to go out on a big date again will be fine because I’ll get to do with you.”

“You’re a sap.”

“Says the man who cooks for me and takes me to the theater.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“So how was Columbus?”

Dave was the first to answer. “It was awesome.”

“We had a great time. I need you to sign this form for me for the next time we go back.” Kurt pulled a folded up piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Burt. “We want to race the go karts next time. We’re old enough, but we have to have a signed form since we’re not 18 yet.”

“Get me a pen.”

Kurt grabbed the pen off the fridge.

“There.” Burt handed him the form and the pen back.

“Thanks.” He put the pen back, folded the paper back up and took out it out to his glove box, and came back inside. “They have a $1 movie theater there.”

“Well, that’s a good deal.”

“It shows old movies, but it was fun.”

“Sounds like you had a good time.”

“We did. How was your date?”

David grabbed Kurt’s bags and took them downstairs with him.

“It was nice. I really like her a lot.”

“I’m glad. As long as she’s nice and treats you right, that’s good.”

“How do you and Finn get along?”

“We’re in Glee together. He’s fine. We don’t hang out or whatever, but he’s okay I guess. He quit bullying people along with the rest of the football team when Azimio staged his coup last fall. He’s at the top of the social ladder since he’s the quarterback.”

“I see.”

“He has a lot more in common with Dave than with me, but he really seems like Glee and he’s not actively doing anything mean to anyone anymore, so I’m fine with him.”

“Alright. He seems like a nice kid. He had dinner with us last night before Carole and I went to the movies.”

“Okay. Is there anything else you want to ask me?”

“Nope.”

“Well, then goodnight.”

“Yeah, ‘night, kiddo.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt passed a slip of paper to Dave. “I know we were going to work on the paper here, but let’s check out the books we need and go back to your house.”

Dave nodded.

They picked up all of the books they had been using and went to the front and checked them out. Once they were back in Dave’s truck, Kurt reached out for Dave’s hand. He drove straight to his house.

As they were climbing the stairs to Dave’s room, Kurt said. “I’ve gotten too used to playing footsie or snuggling up with you while we read. It’s super boring to sit in the library chairs at the tables.”

Dave closed the door behind them. “Mmm hmm. I’ve spoiled you already.”

“You like spoiling me.”

“I do. I think it’s a pajama pants and hoodies research kind of day.”

“Sounds good. Your bed is calling our names.”

Dave laughed. “It’s a good thing Puck can’t hear you say stuff like that.”

“Some day…”

Dave blushed.

“Are you still okay with how things are?” Kurt took pajama pants and a t-shirt out of Dave’s dresser and took them in the bathroom, but didn’t close the door.

Dave changed standing in front of the dresser. “I am.”

Kurt was back out in a flash. He laid his clothes on Dave’s dresser neatly. “If that changes, please tell me. Please don’t cheat on me to get that from someone else.”

Dave pulled Kurt to him and held him up against his chest in a tight hug. “Kurt, I’m not going to cheat on you. When you say things like that, it really hurts.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to hurt you. I never want to hurt you. I just hear too many guys talking about how they broke up with some girl because she wouldn’t put out.”

“But you’re a guy. You have the same interest that me and the rest of the guys have.”

“Yeah, but I think it’s different for me. I never expected to find anyone to love until I moved away from Lima, like when I was 19 or 20. So, I never thought THAT would potentially be part of my life in high school.”

“Neither did I. I’ve already told you this before, but that morning I told you that I was gay, I expected you to offer me friendship at most. And that was a lot of wishful thinking on my part. I didn’t have any hope that I’d find anyone, much less the guy that I was totally head over heels for. I fully expected myself to stay in the closet. But something just changed and I told you. I’m not interested in anyone else. I’m as much of a sappy romantic as you are, or close to it. I figured you that had realized that by now.”

“I have. I guess I just feel a little insecure after yesterday. I was the only gay teen you knew, but now you met quite a few.”

“So did you. How’s that go?” Dave started singing.

_You’re the one that I want._  
_You’re the only one I want._  
_Ooo, ooo, ooo._  
_The one I need._  
_Oh, yes indeed._

He stopped singing. He guided Kurt’s face to look at him. “Stop worrying. I’m not trading you in for an easier model.”

Kurt laughed.

“That’s better.” Dave kissed him gently. “Now, we have a paper to write and books to read.” He caught Kurt off guard and picked him up bridal style and dropped him onto the bed gently.

Kurt grabbed for him and managed to pull him down onto the bed. “Kisses first.”

“If you insist.”

Kurt tickled him.

“No fair.”

“What’s not fair?”

“How absolutely gorgeous you are when you smile. How am I supposed to want to go get those books and bring them over here?”

Kurt rolled his eyes.

“Nope. None of that. I say you’re gorgeous and my opinion is mine and you can’t take it away from me.”

“Now, who’s being sassy?”

“I learned from the best.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After a week of nonsensical behavior on Kurt’s part, where he not only got invited to perform “You Can’t Touch This” a the school librarian’s church, he also managed to inflate Coach Sylvester’s head to a size larger than he thought possible. She had gotten to meet Olivia Newton John and star in a remake of “Physical”, while he had to sit through Rachel Berry’s attempts at bring her popularity up by doing a remake of “Run, Joey Run” co-starting Finn, Puck, and Jesse. In the end, Jesse hadn’t broken up with her, but also wasn’t actually speaking to her.

The following week, the drama continued with Rachel coming down with an inner ear infection and losing her ability to sing on pitch. She had an epic diva melt down as expected and with Jesse gone on a family trip that he had somehow gotten permission to skip school for, Finn stepped in and took Rachel to the doctor. He also took advantage of Jesse’s absence to sing “Jesse’s Girl” hovering around Rachel or looking at her.

The drama continued for a third week with the arrival of Bryan Ryan who seemed to perhaps have some kind of pact with Coach Sue to demoralize Mr. Schue and the Glee Club.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Saturday morning after breakfast, Dave and Kurt were lying on their stomachs next to each other on Dave’s bed with their English books out in front of them.

Dave said, “I know you love your secrets, but do I get a clue about where you’re taking me for Valentine’s Day tomorrow?”

“Nope. You got to plan tonight’s date, which is also our Valentine’s dinner. But we have to focus and get our homework done now. There won’t be any time to do it tomorrow.”

“You made plans for the whole day?”

He nudged Dave with his shoulder. “Shh. Stop being nosy and read the play.”

Dave scooted closer so that their shoulders were touching. Eventually their arms got tired from being in that position. Kurt sat up and scooted back against the large triangular pillows they had bought for Christmas.

“What page are you on?”

“320.”

“I’m on 322. I have an idea. Scoot up here.”

Dave moved and let Kurt rearrange the two of them until Kurt was sitting between Dave’s legs reclined back against Dave’s chest and Dave was holding his English book so they could both see it. Kurt waited until Dave turned the page and he started reading again. When they finished the play, Dave put the book down on the bedside table. Kurt grabbed both of Dave’s hands and wrapped them around his chest. He put his hands on top of Dave’s and closed his eyes and laid his head back. Dave turned his head and pressed his lips to Kurt’s temple.

There was a light knock on the door. Neither one of them felt the need to move from where they were.

“Come in,” Dave called out.

Paul opened the door. “Did you finish your homework already?”

“No. We finished our English reading a few minutes ago and we were just resting for a minute. We’ve got other assignments to work on, but we’re getting there.”

“Good, good. Just checking on the two of you. School going okay?”

Kurt answered, “It’s a bit more dramatic than I had expected, but anything involving Rachel Berry seems to drama filled. We’re working on our songs for Regionals. And I’m working on the Cheerios routine for Nationals.”

“Where are Nationals this year?”

“Nashville. Too close to fly, too far to be a comfortable school bus ride. I think Santana is still trying to convince her to hire a tour bus to take us there.”

“How’s the skating going?”

“I’m not sore afterwards like I was at first, so it’s working. I feel a lot better out on the ice now. Spring training for next season will start after spring break.”

“Sounds good. I just want to make sure you’re doing okay. The fall was pretty rough and I feel like I don’t see you that much. I guess it’s not all that different from before, but I’m still here for you if you need me.”

“I know, Dad. I’m fine. Really. Better than fine. I didn’t lose Z and I’ve got new friends. We hang out with Artie, Tina, Z, and Mercedes a lot. It’s a lot better than the lame parties that I didn’t really want to go to last year. Plus, Artie, Tina, and Mercedes are actually pretty cool.”

“Good. That’s good.”

“How are you doing? How did you and Quinn’s mom even meet?”

“She came to the office to hire a lawyer to file for divorce last fall.”

“Oh, okay.”

“I’ll be honest. She got an appointment with me first, but after a couple of times talking to her, I realized that I liked her more than I should like a client and I asked her to let me transfer her case to Mitch. So, he handled it from then on out. I didn’t want there to be some kind of conflict of interest brought up or some kind of insinuation that she wanted a divorce so that we could be together.”

“That seems reasonable.”

“We didn’t actually start to date until after her divorce was finalized. It was back in December. Her ex was a pain. I won’t go into detail since it’s not my story to tell.”

“Does Quinn know?” Kurt asked.

“She does. I’ve had lunch with them quite a few times. After we eat, I just go to a Starbucks and work on cases while they spend time together. It’s tough on both of them. It’s a mess. Quinn’s due date is in about a month. She’s not sure whether to stay there to finish the school year or not. She likes the school and the other girls. But she wants to move back in with her mom, but that’s easier said than done since their house sold in January and Judy hasn’t found a new place yet. She’s living in a furnished efficiency. Quinn’s stuff is in storage. Everything else got sold in the divorce.”

“Oh, wow. That’s tough,” Kurt said.

“Most divorces are very, very messy. I’ll let you two get back to your homework. I’m heading out. You know I’m just a phone call or text away.”

“Yeah, Dad. I know. See ya.”

After Paul left, Kurt turned on his side a little and wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck and laid his head on Dave’s shoulder. Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt and held him close.

“Comfy?”

“Very. What time is it?”

Dave picked his phone up off the side table and laid it back down after he looked at it. “10:17.”

“Okay. I propose 13 minutes of snuggles and kissing and then we do the math problems that await us. Then we can read again lying next to each other somehow.”

“Deal.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

At Dave’s request, he and Kurt went their separate ways at 4:00. Kurt met up with Tina and Mercedes at the mall to shop for a couple of hours. Tina was still looking for just the right Valentine’s Day gift for Artie. Eventually they ended up in Radio Shack with Kurt pointing out the things that were on Artie’s wish list that he could remember from the last time he had been in the store with Artie.

“You know you could always just go to Old Navy and buy him an assortment of socks. He would like that. Or a new pair of suspenders. While I may find them the most unusual part of his wardrobe, who am I to decide what makes him happy. Maybe there’s some cool ones in Spencer’s or Hot Topic.”

“What did you get Dave?”

“An experience.”

“Oh, really?” Mercedes said with a raised eyebrow.

Kurt rolled his eyes. “Not THAT kind of experience. I don’t want to say, but won’t be a secret after tomorrow. I just want to make sure it stays a secret for now.”

“Fine, fine. I bought Azimio a new rip-stop nylon, waterproof backpack in his favorite color. It’s got a padded laptop sleeve in it.”

Kurt gave her a funny look.

“Oh, don’t give me that look. His backpack is falling apart. He’s always carrying his laptop in his hand and then having to try to shove it in his coat if it starts to rain. His old one is like from junior high from when he didn’t have a phone or keys or a laptop. It’s nice and it’s stylish. I think he’ll like it.”

“You’re right. I shouldn’t be critical. Your gift shows that you’ve been paying attention, both to the fact that he’s struggling to keep his stuff organized and you know what he needs to organize. And on top of that, you chose something in a color he’d like. It sounds like a great choice.”

Mercedes preened. “Of course it was. I chose it.” She laughed.

“Well, now I feel doubly bad that I don’t have a good gift,” Tina said.

“What about doing something with him that he doesn’t normally get to do. Even if you can’t actually DO the activity tomorrow, you can make a certificate or something on your computer or by hand and put it in an envelope for him to open.”

“Good idea, but what?”

“I don’t know what you normally do.”

“Well, we have the most freedom when we go to your house or Dave’s house. At my house, my parents are very strict. My room is upstairs and Artie has no way to get up there and obviously I can’t carry him, so we end up in the living room. But my parents aren’t into PDA, so it’s very platonic at my house. At his house, it’s a little better, but his mom is not quite used to him not being a child. She still walks into his room without knocking. She’s super sweet and she likes me. But we just don’t really get to relax like we do at your house or Dave’s.”

“Okay, so what about if you set up a date at my house. You can both tell your parents you’re spending the evening at my place. We can do it on a night that my dad will be out all evening and Dave and I can stay down in my room. You and Artie can order whatever you want to eat and snuggle up on the sectional like you do when we all watch movies, except that you’ll be alone. Your parents can drop you off and I’ll take the two of you back home, like it’s a normal evening at my house.”

“Sounds perfect.”

“How about Tuesday? My dad always goes out on Tuesdays and doesn’t come home until after I would need to take you home. You can come over at 7:00 and stay until whenever you have to leave.”

“I accept your offer.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt got back to his house at 6:30, like Dave had asked. When he got to the front door, he saw a note that said, “Come to the dining room.” He took the note down and opened the door. He stepped inside and noticed that it was nearly dark, but there was dim light coming from the living room. He closed the door, hung his coat up, and stepped into the living room. Dave had lit a couple of candles to light his way to the dining room. He saw more candlelight in the dining room. He stepped in and found the table had been set. A line of scattered rose petals with candles decorated the table, along with red placemats and their plated dinners. As Kurt stepped through the door, Dave kissed him on the cheek and then followed him to the table and sat down next to him.

“It’s beautiful. You’re the sweetest guy ever.” Kurt turned to him and kissed him gently. “The food looks delicious. Thank you for all of this.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

Kurt picked up his knife and fork and cut into his chicken and took a bite. “This is fabulous. So good.” Kurt closed his eyes and savored the flavor.

After they finished eating, Dave cleared their plates and asked Kurt to close his eyes. He came back a few minutes later. He put a plate and two forks down on the table quietly.

“Keep your eyes closed, but open your mouth.”

Kurt followed Dave’s directions. Dave put a bite of the dessert in Kurt’s mouth. He carefully ate it.

“That is so good. It’s a chocolate cheesecake, with a chocolate crust and cherries on top.”

“Very good.”

“Can I open my eyes now?”

“Sure.”

Kurt leaned forward and kissed Dave. He picked up the second fork and fed it to Dave.

“It is good.”

They fed each other until the slice was gone.

“Why don’t you go ahead and shower?”

“Okay.”

Dave gathered up the rose petals and blew the candles out. He put them in the box he brought them in that he had stashed in the laundry room. He grabbed the next items he needed and went down to set Kurt’s room up while he was in the shower. When Kurt got out of the shower, he called out to Dave from his closet.

“Dave?”

“Yeah?” Dave walked over to the closet.

“What should I wear?”

“Your birthday suit?”

“Upstairs in the living room?”

“Good point.” He stepped inside the closet and laughed.

Kurt was wearing a black long-sleeved t-shirt with a polka dot-esque pattern that was actually Hershey Kisses, with “Kiss Me” written on the paper of a larger Hershey Kiss in the center of the shirt. He handed Dave a see-through red mesh bag filled with Hershey Kisses. He had matching plaid pajama pants on that had a Hershey Kiss inside each square part of the pattern.

“Cute. Very cute.”

“Very cliché, but I’ve never had a Valentine before or anyone to kiss, so it seemed like a fun first Valentine’s novelty gift.”

“Do I get to kiss you every place where there’s a Hershey’s kiss?”

“If you want.”

“Mmm.” He looked him up and down. “Could take a while.”

Kurt stepped closer. “I’m not in a hurry.”

Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt and kissed him. “We’ll save me putting kisses all over you for after the movie. Your dad will be back in a couple of hours and he might want to watch something. I’m going to change into my pajamas too.” He grabbed a pair of his out of Kurt’s dresser and went into the bathroom. “Wait right here.”

Kurt did as he was asked. When Dave came back out, he dropped his clothes in the laundry and took Kurt’s hand. When they stepped out of the closet, Kurt saw the lights and could hear the faint music.

“Dance with me?”

“Of course.” Kurt stepped into his arms. As the danced, Kurt took a closer look at the lights. “I like the lights. They’re like mini Chinese lanterns.”

“They are. They’re for Chinese New Year, which I learned is actually tomorrow, but I liked them better than the heart lights I saw. I thought since they’re mostly white, we might be able to leave them up without it looking like you forgot to take down a holiday decoration.”

“That’s true. Very thoughtful. And I do like them. Thank you.” He leaned into Dave and put his head on Dave’s shoulder.

They danced for a couple of songs before Dave stopped moving. “Let’s go up. We can dance more after the movie.” He took Kurt’s hand and led him upstairs.

Kurt let Dave get settled on the sofa and then he climbed over him and draped himself all over Dave, lying back on him like he was a chaise. He pulled the throw off the back of the sofa and put it over their legs.

“Comfy?”

“Very. You?”

“Perfect.” Dave pressed play and wrapped his arm back around Kurt. “I’ve never seen this one, so I don’t know much about it. I just looked through all of your DVDs and looked for a Fred Astaire movie that you don’t have at the library.”

“Sounds fun.”

About five minutes before the end of the movie, Burt came in. He hung his coat up and leaned against the doorway to the living room, just looking at Kurt and Dave on the sofa watching a movie from what looked like the 1940s. He shook his head, chuckled, and quietly said, “Weirdos.”

When it finished, Kurt looked back toward the doorway. “Hey, Dad. Did you have a nice evening?”

“I did.”

“Good. So did we.” He got up, folded the throw, and put it across the back of the sofa. “We’ll leave you to watch whatever sporting event you Tivo’d while you were out.”

Burt laughed at Kurt’s pajamas after they had closed the door to the basement. “Weirdos, both of them.” He plopped down on the couch to start the game he had recorded, still smiling.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

By the time they got the futon folded down and the covers and pillows in place, Dave had already kissed Kurt at least 20 times in a variety of places. Kurt was laughing and dodging him in an effort to actually get in the bed. He turned the light off and Dave swept him up bridal style.

“No more dodging my kisses.”

Kurt laughed. “I just wanted to get IN the bed for the kissing. I’m not trying to dodge them. Definitely not.” Kurt wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck and pulled himself close enough to kiss Dave.

Dave stood him back up, but Kurt didn’t unwrap his arms or break off the kiss.

“You’re closing the gap pretty quickly. You don’t even need any heels anymore.”

“Nope. Makes it a lot easier.”

“When boot season is over, we’re going to have to go shopping for new pants or maybe you can just wear shorts and I can ogle your legs.”

Kurt laughed. “I’ve never been much of a shorts fan, but I could be persuaded – at least around the house.”

“I can be very persuasive.” He kissed down Kurt’s neck.

“I’m aware. Come on. Let’s get in bed.”

Dave lay down and Kurt scooted up next to him. They got comfortable lying facing each other. Dave reached over and put his hand on Kurt’s hip. Kurt ran his hand across Dave’s jaw, down his neck and shoulders, and stopped when he hand reached Dave’s upper arm.

Kurt spoke softly. “Tonight was beautiful. Thank you. It definitely surpassed any of my ideas of what a romantic Valentine’s evening would be. You really are the sweetest guy. I love you.”

“I love you too. I enjoyed getting all of it ready for you and I’m really glad you liked it. Just so you don’t worry, the rest of the cheesecake is in my truck, hidden away from food-scrounging fathers who might try to eat it while we’re gone tomorrow. We can have the rest while we’re out tomorrow. It was a mini cheesecake.”

“I hadn’t thought about that yet, but I’m sure my dad would have helped himself to a piece if you had put 6 slices in the fridge. It’s really good. It’s hard to believe that you didn’t know how to cook when we started dating. You’re so good at it now.”

“Well, the right motivation goes a long ways.” He kissed Kurt gently. “I like to do things for you.”

“You’re a sweetheart.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“No way!”

“Yes way!”

“No way.”

“It’s true.”

“I see that, but how?”

“I have my ways.”

“This game’s been sold out for weeks.”

“Well, I have two tickets right here, so come on!”

Dave grabbed his hand and moved quickly through the parking lot to get to the stadium. “You made a big deal out of me cooking for you and borrowing a movie from the library and you’re bringing me to a sold-out Blue Jackets game?”

“I thought you’d like it.”

Dave squeezed his hand. “Like it? I love it. This is awesome!”

They waited in line and finally made it to the inside of the stadium area. Dave continued to hold tight to Kurt’s hand and they made it through the crowd to get to their seats. They sat down and Dave put his arm across the back of Kurt’s seat and put his hand on Kurt’s shoulder. He leaned in toward Kurt so he could be heard over the crowd.

“Thank you. I’m so excited. My dad doesn’t really like crowds or the noise. We watch a lot of stuff at home together, but I’ve never actually been to an NHL game before.”

Kurt reached across his chest and interlaced his fingers with Dave’s and squeezed his hand and smiled. Once the game got underway, Dave was up on his feet as much as he was in his chair.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Three hours later, they were back in the Navigator and Kurt was heading out of the parking lot to yet another unknown location. Dave had his hand on Kurt’s thigh rather than holding his hand since Kurt had so many other cars to keep track of in the crowded parking lot.

“You can’t do anything else amazing for me for like, I don’t know how long. This was months worth of amazingness.”

“That wouldn’t be any fun. You don’t mean that, do you?”

“Of course not. I just … this was just too much, but I loved every minute of it.”

“I saw.”

“Where are we going?”

“Someplace.”

“Obviously.”

“A drive-thru first, then someplace, actually. What do you want?”

“Mostly a huge, giant, extra, extra large drink.”

“I can do that. All that yelling made your throat sore. Look in the glove box.”

Dave opened it and pulled out a bag of lemon drops with honey.

“Put one of those in your mouth. It will help.”

Dave opened the package, took one out, and put it back in the glove box. “You knew I would scream myself hoarse.” He unwrapped the candy and put it in his mouth.

“I figured you would, yes.”

“Sassy.”

“You love it.”

“I know.”

“Besides the humongous drink, what do you want?”

“Um, let’s just drive to wherever ‘someplace’ is and we’ll stop somewhere along the way.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“A church? Seriously? Why are we at a church?” Dave opened the glove box and got another lemon candy out and put it in his mouth.

Kurt opened his door and waited for Dave to come around the end. He grabbed his hand and led him to the church. Dave saw the sign on the door as the walked up. They followed the signs through the halls until he found the room he was looking for.

“I’ve never heard of PFLAG.”

Kurt kept his voice low. “I’d heard of it, but I’ve never been to a meeting. I figured we’d give it a shot since this group meets once a month and it happened to be on the same day we’d be in Columbus. There’s another group, but they meet somewhere else on a different day. But if we don’t like this one, we can always try the other one sometime.”

They went in the room and were greeted by a couple of people. The meeting was just about to start, so they sat down. The leader introduced himself and a couple of other people. A speaker got up and talked about Prop 8 and the legislative work going on to move toward legalizing same sex marriage in the US. After the speaker finished, the leader divided the group up into smaller groups. Kurt and Dave followed the group of younger people to another smaller room.

When they got there, the other people introduced themselves first and said a little about themselves. The first person to speak made introduced herself as Sheila, and made it clear that no one had to out themselves or tell anything beyond their name, if they didn’t feel comfortable. She pointed out that the group was to support family members or help friends be more supportive of their LGBTQ friends as well as for personal support with LGBTQ issues.

When it got around to them, Kurt deferred to Dave, allowing him to set the tone for how open they would be about themselves.

“My name’s Dave. I’m 16. I play football and I’m in Glee Club. I came out last fall. No one had any idea I was gay. The outcome was mixed. My father accepts me. My mother doesn’t. I got the crap kicked out of me by some of the other jocks at our school the week I came out. But my best friend supported me and that made all the difference at school. He’s a football player too and he rallied behind me, and in the end, it’s better now. The whole school is better. The jocks that beat me up got expelled and the bullying has really died down to words rather than physical bullying. And Kurt’s my boyfriend. We’ve been together nearly five months.”

Kurt could tell that Dave was done and started introducing himself. “As Dave said, my name is Kurt. I’m 16. I’m a sophomore in high school. I’m gay. Everyone knew or suspected, but I officially came out last fall. My dad accepted me and said he already knew, but gave me time to tell him myself. I play football and I’m a cheerleader. I’m in our school’s Glee Club too.”

“Dave and Kurt, I’m glad the two of you came today,” Sheila said. “Usually we have more people, but since it’s Valentine’s Day, I think quite a few of them are out celebrating that instead.”

Kurt said, “We live quite a ways from here, so I don’t know when we might be able to come back, but it’s nice to know that there are groups like this.”

One person in the group started to talk about contemplating coming out and a few people shared their stories and answered questions. Kurt and Dave just listened. When the group broke for refreshments, Kurt and Dave decided to head back to Lima.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They got back to the Hummel’s after Carole had gone home for the evening and Burt had already gone upstairs. The two of them got ready for bed and packed up all of their stuff to be ready for school the next morning. They decided to read a while before they went to sleep, so they each had a book, but Dave started talking before they opened them.

“I had a great time today. It was so much fun. I still can hardly believe it was real, but I know it was. I have lots of pictures to prove it.”

“Send me the best selfies of the two of us with the ice behind us. I still want to make a collage.”

“Okay. The PFLAG meeting was cool too. I’m not sure that I’d want to talk publicly about a problem, but it was nice to see so many people involved in the group.”

“It was. Even if we don’t go back, just knowing that it exists is cool to me. I’ve felt alone for so long. And then you opened up to me and then I didn’t feel alone anymore. A group like that could help a lot of people. Oh, I forgot to tell you, I offered my house for Artie and Tina to have a Valentine’s Date here. I won’t go into details because they’re not mine to tell, but Tina wanted some place she could have a nice romantic dinner with Artie. But if you hear either one of them talk about it, they’re just coming over to spend the evening with us. We’ll be here, but we’ll stay down here so they can eat in private upstairs.”

“That’s fine.”

“Are we actually going to read?”

“I think I’m too tired and hyped up both.”

Kurt laughed. “Give me your book, then. I’ll just put it on my desk with mine and turn the light off.” He rolled back over in the dark and scooted closer until Dave made room for him to snuggle up to him. He tilted his head up and kissed Dave. “I had a great weekend.”

“Me too. Me too. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday morning, Rachel came into Glee Club all riled up announcing that she had been spying on Vocal Adrenaline. Her clues led the girls and Kurt to believe that their rivals were working on a Lady Gaga piece for Regionals. Mr. Schue assigned them to work on a Lady Gaga piece to present to the group. The guys were unhappy with the choice and Mr. Schue told them to come up with an alternative by lunch and he’d approve it if it met his standards for theatricality.

The guys went in at lunch and discussed what to choose. Kurt went with Dave, but everyone knew that he would perform with the girls. In the end, half of the guys decided to perform a Kiss song and the other half decided to go with a Rolling Stones song. Mr. Schue approved their ideas.

All three groups decided to meet up after Cheerios and basketball practice. The girls met in the choir room. The guys met in the costume room to see what they could find. They took what they could use and put it together. The half that was working on a Rolling Stones song went to the dance studio. The guys that were singing the Kiss song decided to practice at Finn’s later that evening since Puck had to go to work.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt was surprised to get home and find his dad there. He had planned to get started on his Gaga-esque outfit, but his dad intercepted him.

“Kurt?”

“Yeah, Dad?”

“Come sit down. I want to talk to you.”

“Sure.” He hung his coat up and walked around to the sofa and sat down opposite Burt.

“I, um, want to talk to you about something.”

“Okay.”

“Carole and I have gotten serious.”

“Alright.”

“And I asked her to move in.”

“Here? With us?”

“Yeah, here with us. Where else would she move in?”

“Well, there’s not just Carole. There’s Finn too. We only have two bedrooms.”

“I’m aware of that, but your room is big enough to share with Finn. They’re going to start moving their stuff over this weekend.”

“Dad, we don’t have room for any more stuff.”

“We’ll make it work. We’ll have to work on the details. I know. But I just wanted to let you know.”

“Did she tell Finn?”

“I don’t know. I guess just keep it to yourself for now.”

“Right. Is that all?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, Tina and Artie are coming over tomorrow evening while you’re out with Carole. Is it okay for us to stay here until 9:00? I’ll take them home, and then go over to Dave’s.”

“Yeah, sure. We’ll just come back here a little after 9:00.”

“Thanks. I have to go back out and go to the fabric store soon. I just need to go down and do some preliminary drawings first. I’m making something for Glee Club.”

“Sure, kiddo. Knock yourself out.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Thursday morning, everyone was sitting around waiting for Glee Club to start, but after showing off their Gaga-esque costumes, they realized that Rachel wasn’t there still. Mercedes spoke up and told everyone that she and Rachel had gone to spy on Vocal Adrenaline again and that Rachel had found out that Shelby Corcoran is her birth mother. Everyone was shocked and was even more surprised when Rachel walked in the room.

Her dress was not up to everyone else’s level, but given what she had been through the previous afternoon, it wasn’t any surprise that she didn’t go to Tina’s when the girls worked on the dresses Wednesday evening and Tina had been busy the night before.

She put on her ‘the show must go on’ face and attitude and they moved to the auditorium to show off their piece. “Bad Romance” turned out fantastic even if the guys didn’t really seem to appreciate the theatricality of it.

Dave waited for Kurt to come down into the auditorium afterwards. Everyone else had left.

“It’s okay. I can tell that you don’t really like me dressed this way.”

“I don’t know what I think yet. I know you worked hard on it, but it’s more like a costume than anything else I’ve ever seen you wear. It’s not just you. The girls too. I think everyone just looks too different, maybe? I’m not sure how to explain it. I guess it makes sense with the theatricality theme. Theatricality, theater… none of you look like yourselves.”

“I think that’s part of the point. In the outfits, we can be someone else for a short period of time. Even though I’ve worn corsets and kilts and would even wear skirts if I ever find the ones I like for less than $1000 or if I can find a pattern to make one myself, those are just clothes and I don’t want to be a girl or be thought of as a girl. But playing one in a theater production or something wouldn’t be any different than playing the role of a doctor or a dentist or something that I’m not. I’d put on a costume and pretend to be someone else. Does it really bother you? I can go ahead and change back if you want.”

“No, don’t change. You worked hard on it and you should wear it like you had planned to. We need to get moving. Come on.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Friday at lunch, it was the guys’ turn to perform. Everyone packed lunches so they could eat without going to the cafeteria. Most of the guys had eaten in Home Ec the period before lunch anyway. Rachel came in wearing a new dress that Shelby had helped her with.

The Rolling Stones group – Dave, Matt, Azimio, and the bass guitarist from the jazz band came out on the stage first. Mr. Schue looked surprised and not too pleased with the way they were dressed. They all had dress slacks, button-up shirts, ties, and matching suit jackets on.

Dave stepped forward. “We’re not really ready to perform, but we will. Our costumes are an homage to the beginning of the Rolling Stones – the way the looked when they first got started. Our performance will be one person short since Jesse isn’t at school again today. He was supposed to be our lead singer. Azimio is taking his place.”

The four of them began singing “Satisfaction.” During a short instrumental interlude, the four of them walked off stage and came back wearing clothing that looked much more like the Rolling Stones more recent clothes. They finished the song with as much theatricality as they could put into it.

Everyone clapped for them.

“Good job, guys. It’s hard to perform when your lead is missing. Good job, Azimio.”

He smiled and nodded. The stage went dark. The other group of guys moved the drum set to the center and added more drums. The lights came up and the other four were in full Kiss make up and tight black outfits. Dave had taken a seat next to Kurt when he came down into the auditorium. When the guys finished everyone clapped for them as well. Mr. Schue congratulated them on a job well done.

All of the guys got up to go to the guys changing room, including Kurt who was walking along with Dave. Finn was struggling to get the face paint off and Kurt pulled out a pack of moist towelettes from his bag. He walked over to Finn with one in his hand and started to show Finn how to use it to get the make up off, but Finn flipped out when he touched him.

“It’s just a moist towelette, Finn. God.” He tossed the pack onto the vanity where Finn was sitting. He grabbed his bag and left the room. He went to class.

Dave came into their history class and sat down next to Kurt, who didn’t make eye contact. He opened his notebook for the class, but flipped to the back page and wrote, “What’s wrong?”

“Not here. Later.”

Dave turned his notebook back to where it needed to be to take notes. He left Kurt alone, other than putting his hand on Kurt’s leg.

Kurt asked to be excused 10 minutes before his last period classes ended. He rushed to the guys changing area in the auditorium and put his Cheerios uniform on. He hung his Lady Gaga outfit up in a garment and ran it out to his Navigator.

He saw Jesse picking Rachel up, but didn’t say anything as he rushed back in the building, hoping to make it to Cheerios practice on time and not end up running laps like he had the day before when it had taken him too long to change.


	12. Chapter 12

Rachel got into Jesse’s car.

“Why haven’t you been at school this week?”

“Can we go to your house?”

“Sure.”

Jesse didn’t say anything else on the drive. He followed Rachel into the house. Hiram was in the living room playing the piano when the got there.

“Hi, Daddy.”

“Hello, darling. Good afternoon, Jesse.”

“Mr. Berry, I have some things I need to tell Rachel and I’d like you to sit with us.”

“Alright.” He moved from the piano bench to one of the chairs.

Rachel sat on the couch and Jesse sat next to her and took her hand in his.

He took a deep breath. “What I’m going to tell you isn’t pleasant, but I have to tell you.”

“Are you sick? You’ve missed school all week.”

“I’m not physically sick. I’m just emotionally torn and I’ve been a wreck all week.”

“Please explain. What’s going on, Jesse?” Hiram said.

“It goes back to when we met. It was Miss Corcoran’s plan. She chose me because my uncle lives in Lima, and other reasons. Anyway, she chose me to befriend you and to get you to trust me. But you were very suspicious and I had to work hard to gain your trust. I even had to enroll at McKinley. She didn’t initially tell me why befriending you was important. I just assumed that she wanted me to infiltrate the group and get information and share it with her. I thought it would be a good way to practice my acting skills.”

Jesse saw tears streaming down Rachel’s face. He reached up to wipe them.

“Rachel, listen please. Don’t jump to conclusions. By the time she wanted me to plant the tape so that you would hear her voice, I was long past befriending you as an acting project. I really like you. When you made that ‘Run, Joey Run’ video, that really hurt and it made me realize how much I had really come to care about you.”

“I’m sorry about that. I am.”

“In a way, it’s good that you did it because it helps you see that I’m not the only one who has done something really stupid. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt in any way. I meant everything I’ve ever said to you about your talent and your future success and how I feel about you. You are amazingly talented and beautiful and sweet underneath that layer of blind ambition that we seem to share.”

Rachel smiled weakly. “Why are you telling me this exactly?”

“I’m not staying at McKinley. When you came to spy on us, I was up on that stage in costume. I saw you in the balcony. I’ve been practicing with them on the weekends. That’s why I’m never here on the weekends. I’ve been spending the weekends at my house in Akron. My parents really are in Bali, but I’m 18. I didn’t need to come stay with my uncle. Infiltrating was all fine and good until I fell for you and now I feel awful because what I’ve done will hurt you personally. I don’t want to break up with you. I really do like you, but I have to stay in Akron and compete with Vocal Adrenaline. We’ll be competitors at Regionals. I signed a contract. Well, my parents signed it as well since I was 17 at the beginning of the school year. I can’t actually perform with New Directions, even if I wanted to. I’m so sorry.”

“So, you’re telling me all of this – does Shelby know that you’re telling me?”

“No. Please don’t tell her. All of this is enough of a mess as it is right now. Everyone in New Directions is going to hate me and warn you to stay away from me and I understand their point of view, but please don’t hate me. College won’t start like six months. I haven’t even gotten any letters back from the places I applied.”

“So, you still want us to date, even though you’re going back to Akron?”

“I can move back to Lima as soon as school ends. My uncle won’t care. So, it would just be for three months. I can still drive over here every Friday when I get out of school and stay at his house all weekend unless Miss Corcoran schedules more weekend rehearsals.”

“I don’t know what to think. You used me, but then not really. You could have just left … This is all so confusing. Shelby broke the contract she signed, but I really would like to get to know her at least a little bit, but I’m not ready to see her again. I know you have to go back to Akron. Can you give me the weekend to think? I don’t know what to say right now. But I’m not going to just break up with you right this minute because I want to think.”

“That’s fair. How about you call me Sunday?”

“I can do that.”

He stood up and pulled Rachel up with him. He pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry for hurting you. It was never supposed to be personal, but it is because I grew to really care about you – too much to walk away.” He kissed her on the cheek and left the house.

Rachel sat back down and cried.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt went to Dave’s as soon as he got out of Cheerios practice. He didn’t even bother to change. Dave opened the door before he even rang the bell. He took his coat off and put it in the closet and took his bags upstairs and went straight into Dave’s room. He dropped his bags on the floor and went to shower. Dave put a pair of pajamas on the bathroom sink and waited for Kurt on the bed. When he came out, Dave stood up and Kurt walked into his open arms. Dave stepped back and pulled Kurt onto the bed with him and they got comfortable.

“I’m so tired. I don’t want to go cheer tonight.”

“I know, but you have to.”

“Ugh!”

Dave kissed him on the forehead. “Something else is bothering you.”

“Just the drama of everything. I saw Jesse pick Rachel up after school, so he’s obviously not sick enough to miss school all week. But I did figure out what you meant on Thursday when I saw the other guys perform today. They just didn’t seem like themselves. It was like there was barely enough of them left to know who was who. It was unnerving. It wasn’t that I didn’t like their amazing costuming because I did. I just didn’t at the same time.”

“Well, I’m glad it makes as little sense to you as it did to me on Thursday. We can commiserate in our simultaneous like and dislike of the theatricality costumes. Why did you walk out of the guys’ dressing room at lunch?”

“Oh, Finn just pissed me off. He still acts like I have cooties. It’s getting old. He’s stopped the outward behavior. He pretends to be okay with me, but when I reached to help him get that Kiss make up off, he jumped back like I was holding a branding iron instead of a moist towelette.”

“Oh. Finn’s not the brightest crayon in the box.”

“I know, but everyone thinks he’s such a nice guy. Even me. He hasn’t said anything in ages or done anything either. It was just a real blow to see him jerk back like that especially since he’s moving into my room this weekend.”

“He’s what?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I was trying to process it without turning the whole thing into another dramatic issue. But with his behavior today, I’m seriously concerned. I also don’t think that he knows yet and that bothers me too.”

“When did you find out?”

“Monday. I’m sorry. I just was in denial. I kept hoping that by the end of the week my dad would say that Carole had changed her mind and that they weren’t moving in.”

“I can understand wanting that to be the case. What if my dad asks Judy and Quinn to move in here with us? That would be so weird. At least we have room for them here. My parents wanted a big family and bought this house before I was born. There were complications and they couldn’t have any more kids, so we have two guest rooms on the second floor. We never moved because the rooms came in handy when relatives came to visit and stay with us. Quinn could have one of them. I’d never have to share any space with her. But Finn will be sharing your room and your closet and bathroom.”

“I know. And I thought he was okay with it. He hasn’t acted weird all week and now I think that’s because no one told him yet. Between me hoping that she’d change her mind and him not freaking out, I was lulled into a state of complacency.”

“So, when are they moving in?”

“Sunday. I don’t have time to think about it this coming week. Unless your dad is opposed, I will be spending every night here. I need to be able to rest and relax. Nationals is a week from tomorrow. Sue will murder me if I mess up. I had to run extra laps even though I wasn’t late today because she said I violated our agreement to wear my uniform on Fridays. I thought wearing it Wednesday was a fair trade, but since I didn’t ask in advance, I had to run laps after practice. I hate running laps.”

“That’s why you’re so tired.”

“Yeah. What time is it?”

Dave pulled his phone out of his pocket. “6:00, well almost.”

Kurt sat straight up. He got out of bed, pulled a clean Cheerios shirt out and swapped it for his pajama shirt. He went in the bathroom and put his extra dance belt and his track pants on. He fixed his hair before he came back out. “Let’s grab something to eat. I have to be back at the school at 6:45.”

“I made you a sandwich before you got here. I had put it in the fridge already because you were running late.”

“Perfect. Come here.”

Dave stepped closer.

Kurt wrapped his arms around Dave and hugged him. “You’re the best boyfriend. Seriously. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Come on. Let’s get you fed before we go.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave ordered a pizza to be delivered to his house while he waited for Kurt to come out to his truck after the game. By the time Kurt got out of the shower, the pizza had come. Paul came in and plopped in the recliner a few minutes after Kurt had come down.

“Help yourself,” Dave said.

“Thanks.” He grabbed a slice. “How was the game?”

“We won, which was surprising,” Dave said.

“Can I ask you something?” Kurt looked at Paul.

“You can ask me anything.”

“Did my dad tell you about Carole?”

“Yeah.”

“I need to know if I can just stay here all next week. I have Nationals in a week. I can’t deal with Finn in my space, get my schoolwork done, and be ready for Nationals.”

“Did something happen between the two of you?”

“He doesn’t even know yet.”

“What? Burt told me on Monday.”

“Yeah, me too. But obviously Carole hasn’t told Finn. He is not going to be happy. I’m not going to go into how I know that. I just know. I didn’t even tell Dave about it until today because I honestly thought Finn would freak out and Carole would change her mind before this weekend, but that’s not what happened. And the freak out didn’t happen not because he is okay with it, but because he doesn’t know still. I just need someplace where I can rest and relax and be ready for next weekend.”

“It’s fine with me. Having you here is never a problem. You’re welcome here any time, like I said before. I really meant that.”

“Thanks. The weekend after that is Regionals for Glee Club. I’m 99% sure we can’t beat Vocal Adrenaline, but we need to come in second. Principal Figgins said the club would be disbanded if we don’t place first or second. Even without Jesse, Vocal Adrenaline will beat us. They’re like a well-oiled performing machine.”

Dave added, “And Rachel found out that Vocal Adrenaline’s coach is her birth mother.”

“What?”

“Yeah, it’s a mess. Rachel didn’t explain how it happened, but it’s true.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt was summoned home Saturday afternoon. Burt was waiting for him when he got there.

“Carole and Finn will be here in a couple of hours. Carole wants it to be a surprise. She’s really excited.”

“Alright. I’ll make some snacks.”

Kurt knew that Finn loved to eat. Maybe some nice snacks would calm him down a little bit. An hour later, had the snacks ready. He and Burt set up the card table in Kurt’s room, which he didn’t understand, but just did whatever his dad said.

“I’m going back to Dave’s tonight.”

“Isn’t he supposed to stay over here?”

“Change of plans.”

“Fine. There’s a big game on tonight and we’re going to watch it.”

“Have fun.”

Burt’s phone pinged with a text.

“They’re here. Just wait. Carole has a key.”

A few minutes later, Finn was being ushered down the stairs with his eyes closed. Carole told him to open them when they got to the bottom of the stairs. Kurt offered him sparkling cider. Finn took the flute of cider, but looked around bewildered. He saw the “Welcome Home” banner that Burt had taped up on the wall.

“Welcome home? But who went somewhere?”

Carole moved to Burt’s side. “Burt asked us to move in with them.”

“And this is how you’re telling me?” Finn asked, obviously angry about it.

Burt responded, “It’s going to take some getting used to, but you’re gonna love it. Just think, now you won’t have to drag your tail over here every time you wanna watch something on the old 55-incher.”

Kurt hadn’t realized that Finn had been spending that much time at the house.

“We got a lot of food. It’s ethnic food. Some ethnicity that’s not ours.”

Kurt added, “Tuna crudités.”

Finn took the one that he was handed, but just left it in his palm.

“This house is much bigger than ours. It has two bathrooms.”

“Two and a half,” Burt corrected.

“I don’t want an extra bathroom or a tuna crude. I just want my house back.”

Kurt was doing his best to sound cheerful, but his tone was starting to sound condescending. “I think I know what this is about. Our room. The palette in here is totally unflattering to your skin tone. Not everyone can pull off Dior gray. We need to redecorate.”

“Wait. We’re sharing a room? I am not cool with that.”

“Baby, I know it’s weird, but it can’t be much of a surprise. And in time, you’re going to be as happy as I am.”

“Look, I’ll knock out a wall upstairs and I’ll put an addition on. But until then, maybe this will grease the wheels a bit.” Burt pulled his wallet out to give Kurt some cash for his endeavor, but Carole stopped him.

She said, “We’ll work on that later.”

“We’ll have game night. Do you play Sorry? I’m going to beat you.”

Finn stood there dumbfounded. “When are we moving?”

“Tomorrow.”

Before what Carole said really had time to sink in, Kurt and Finn’s phone pinged at the same time. They both pulled them out and looked.

Kurt said, “Rachel has summoned all of us to her house, claiming it is a New Directions emergency. I have to go pick up Tina and Artie.”

Finn and Kurt headed up the stairs.

“Can I ride with you, dude?”

“Sure,” he said, as he grabbed his coat.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Once they were in the Nav, Kurt said, “You’ll need to find another ride home. I have plans tonight.”

“I’ll get Mike or Puck to take me home.”

The rest of the drive they said nothing to each other. Kurt helped Artie in, and then picked Tina up. They got to Rachel’s at the appointed time. She directed everyone to the basement. Dave was waiting for Kurt. He grabbed Artie and carried him down. Kurt took his wheelchair down. Once everyone was situated, Rachel started to explain why she had called everyone. She explained the situation with Jesse.

“Wait, so he’s bailing on us two weeks before Regionals?” Artie asked.

“Unfortunately, yes.”

Santana said, “We have no chance of winning now. We have to redo everything.”

Kurt spoke up. “Look, we never really had a chance at beating Vocal Adrenaline and we all know that. It’s been fun pretending like we might. But we saw them at the beginning of the school year. With or without Jesse, we didn’t have a chance at beating them. Some of them have been together for four years. We’ve been together less than six months. We need to be realistic. We need to be the best we can be to come in second. That’s all we need for the club to continue next year.”

“Kurt’s right,” Mercedes agreed.

“With our lopsided group, we’re less affected by Jesse’s departure than we would be if we had all boy/girl pairs,” Tina said. “We’re mostly in lines or moving from one type of line to another line. In all honesty, our dances are just moving line dances. We’ll just have to change a few things. Instead of our three horizontal lines having a 5-4-5 pattern, we’ll just have to have it be a 4-5-4 pattern. On the risers, nothing will change except that the guys in the row that Jesse was in will have to change the distance they stand from each other.”

Kurt spoke again. “The main thing we need to figure out is who is going to sing Jesse’s featured lines. He didn’t have a solo or duet, so it’s just a few featured lines in our group song. We can either double someone’s lines or someone who isn’t featured already can sing them, so that would be Dave, Azimio, or Mike.”

Rachel cut in. “I think we should try the song three times and see who sounds the best.”

“Do you have the backing track?” Mercedes asked.

“I do. It’s already plugged in and ready to go. Are we ready?” She didn’t bother to wait for answer. She just turned the music on.

After the third time through, Kurt said, “Everyone close your eyes. If you think Dave should do it, raise your hand.” He counted. “Azimio?” No hands. Mike?” No hands. “Alright. Open your eyes. Dave got the most votes.”

“Fine with me. That part is too low for me,” Azimio said.

“So, you broke up with him, right?” Mercedes asked.

“No, not yet. I told him that I need time to think.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Mercedes, he told me all of this with my dad in the room. What kind of guy confesses to that type of thing in front of someone’s dad if they aren’t serious about their apology?”

Santana piped up. “A manipulative liar. That’s the kind of guy.”

“I’m not agreeing to marry him or anything. I’m 16. But I really do like him and I’m going to give him a chance to prove himself. He could have just walked away and said nothing. We would have figured it out at some point this week and had even less time to readjust. He could have fought for the lead for the solo or duet and that would have completely thrown us off. He could have just broken my heart and walked away if he didn’t care. He risked a lot by telling me. But you all have to keep this a secret until Mr. Schue figures it out. Dave can just volunteer to sing Jesse’s lines when he’s not at school again this week. We’ll get Mr. Schue to focus on our vocals for a few days.”

“Why are you protecting him?” Tina asked.

“I’m waiting until after Regionals to talk to Shelby again. I just want as much peace as I can manage until then. I think Kurt is right. We need to be happy with placing second, but to do that we still have to beat everyone but Vocal Adrenaline. Ignoring the issue with Jesse is my method of being able to focus on us doing our best. If I’m thinking about him and Shelby, I will be distracted. I don’t want to be the cause of our downfall.”

“Fine, Rachel,” Mercedes said. “We’ll ignore the giant traitor Jesse for your peace of mind and so we can focus on doing our best … FOR NOW. But only for now. Let’s sing through the song one more time with Dave singing Jesse’s part. I’ve got other stuff to do today.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“You’ve been to Finn’s before, right?”

“Yeah.”

“What color is his room, generally speaking.”

“Umm. I mostly remember that it had cowboy wallpaper because it was so unusual. I think maybe blue?” Dave closed his eyes and tried to picture Finn’s room. “Yeah. He has a medium or dark blue comforter. That’s all I can remember besides the cowboy wallpaper.”

“Well, I refuse to put cowboy wallpaper up, but we can get blue paint. Something that goes with Dior gray. We’ll paint half of the room tonight. We’ll have to sleep upstairs or go to your house.”

“That’s fine.”

When Kurt and Dave got back to the Hummel’s, Kurt and Dave rearranged the furniture in the basement so that all of his stuff was against two of the walls, which left the other two walls open for Finn to use for his stuff. They taped off the stairway and covered the floor and painted the two walls a pale blue that went with the Dior gray that Kurt loved. After they cleaned up the paint and showered, they crashed on the sofa.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sunday morning, they got up and Kurt packed enough clothes for a week in a suitcase and put it in the back of his Navigator. He wasn’t sure that he would need all of them, but if he decided to not stay at home, he wanted to be able to walk out without having to take the time to pack.

While Dave pulled the tape off the stairway edge and the trim, Kurt double-checked his side of the room to remove anything incriminating and put it in a box to take to Dave’s with him. While Kurt worked on his closet, Dave made them breakfast. Kurt paused long enough to eat it and went right back to work.

“Can you help me fold up the stuff I’m not keeping?”

“I can try.”

“I’ll show you how.” Kurt demonstrated the quickest, neatest way to fold shirts and pants.

“Got it, I think.”

“We’ll take the stuff to Columbus the next time we go. I’ve outgrown a lot of this stuff, either physically or stylistically.” Kurt looked at each item and anything he wasn’t in love with went in the pile for Dave to fold. Once he’d made it through his whole closet, he started helping Dave fold. They carried the boxes up to the Navigator. Kurt reorganized what was left and moved everything to the longer wall in the closet, leaving the other side for Finn to hang his clothes.

When Finn showed up around noon, he was not in a great mood, but Dave and Kurt helped him move his furniture into the basement. Kurt helped with the placement of the pieces to ensure that they would all fit in the available space.

Once everything was down in the basement, Kurt showed him the closet. “I made room for your hanging clothes in here.”   This door leads into the bathroom. I figure you have your own towels. I made room for them on the rack. I moved all of my stuff off the counter and put it on the dresser in the closet. Please just leave my stuff alone, meaning don’t touch it. I’ll do the same for you. I’ve done what I can to make you feel at home. I painted your half of the room a warmer color. I hope you like it.”

“It’s fine,” he said flatly. “’l’ll just get busy emptying my boxes.”

“We’ll leave you to it, then.”

Kurt and Dave left.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sunday afternoon, Rachel spoke to Jesse. Once they had finished discussing their personal issues, Jesse said, “I need to tell you something else. We’re coming to McKinley on Thursday at lunch. The idea is to psych you out and make the New Directions lose their focus.”

“We’ll be ready for you.”

“I’m sure you will. Are we okay for now?”

“Yes, Jesse. I’m going to give you a chance, but if you lie to me or manipulate me anymore, it’s over. I know we both have big egos and we both have a borderline obsessive need to be in the limelight, but honesty is very important to me in a relationship. I expect my competition to be ruthless and attempt to bring me down, but not my boyfriend.”

“I get it. I am really sorry.”

“You’ve said so many, many times. Now, I need to see it, not just hear it. I have to go now.” She hung up and texted everyone in New Directions again. Within an hour everyone was back at her house and down in the basement.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“So, funk, huh?” Tina asked. “We’re going to tell Mr. Schue we’re in a funk once he finally tells us about Jesse and we’re going to have a song ready and one of us is going to conveniently suggest it?”

“Exactly, but we need the right song,” Rachel insisted.

They pulled their phones out and started searching. They played songs for each other until Artie played “Give up the Funk”.

“That’s perfect,” Tina said. “Let’s work on it. I don’t think we need amazing harmonies, so much as we need style and attitude and good dance moves. We aren’t actually trying to out-sing them. We’re trying to psych them out. They can’t freestyle. They’re like robots. They’ve been drilled endlessly until their pieces are perfect, but we throw things together all the time. Look at our pieces last week. We were amazing. There’s no way a group that has never had any artistic freedom could do what we do.”

“Tina’s right,” Mercedes said. “Let’s work on costuming ideas, so we’re ready for that, but let’s blow them away with our creativity.”

They sat around and came up with a color scheme.

“Just be sure to learn the words to the song. The rest we’ll work on after Mr. Schue tells us. We’ll perform it for Vocal Adrenaline whenever they show up and we’ll knock their pretentious asses down a few pegs,” Artie said.

“I gotta go finish my homework, guys,” Tina said.

Quite a few people in the group agreed with her. Everyone packed up and left.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Mr. Schue let everyone know of Jesse’s departure Tuesday morning. He had officially withdrawn Monday. Artie suggested they do a funk number and made the suggestion of “Give Up the Funk”, like they had all decided on.

Vocal Adrenaline showed up on Thursday at lunch and sang “Another One Bites the Dust”. When they were about to exit the auditorium, Puck spoke out.

“Hey, Jesse. Have your crew take a seat. We’ve got a song for you. Something we came up with this morning. Give us five minutes.”

The members of Vocal Adrenaline moved to the seats in the auditorium and waited.

Kurt entered the stage singing much lower and anyone had realized that he could. The rest of the group came in and wowed Vocal Adrenaline with their spunky funk number. By the looks on the faces in the audience, the New Directions had succeeded.

Jesse texted Rachel on their way out.

\--Come outside, but be prepared to be pelted with paint guns. I’m so sorry. I tried to talk them out of it, but I failed. Go along with whatever feelings you would have if I didn’t warn you. Please don’t take anything I say or do to heart. I talked them out of the eggs, if that shows you how much I care.”

Rachel resigned herself to the fact that she was going to do what he asked. She had Mercedes and Tina follow her, but she had them hang back enough to not been noticed. She got outside and played up being excited to see him standing in the lot alone. She ran toward him and the Vocal Adrenaline members came out from behind some cars and shot her with paint balls. One of them handed Jesse a gun.

“Do it, Jesse. Either you’re with us or you aren’t.”

Jesse carefully shot Rachel in the leg, thinking it would hurt the least. They left in a hurry before they could get caught. Jesse had driven by himself and pulled over about a block from the school and called Rachel.

She answered crying, “Hello?”

“Rachel, I’m so sorry.”

“I keep hearing that from you, but not really seeing it. I appreciate the fact that you kept them from pelting me with eggs, but I am going to be covered in bruises. Have you ever been shot from that close with a paintball gun? It really hurts, Jesse. A lot. I’m probably still going to have bruises at Regionals and we’re wearing sleeveless dresses.”

“Think of a way I can make it up to you after Regionals. I could take you to a spa. Would you like that?”

“Yeah, but I have to go inside now. I’m freezing and covered in paint. I can’t go to class like this.”

Rachel hung up and went inside. Mercedes and Tina were waiting for her, and they had summoned the guys. They went back to the choir room as a group and found that it had been TP’d.”

Tina helped Rachel to get clean clothes out of her locker, and then carried them to the locker room so she could shower. Everyone else cleaned up the toilet paper and discussed ways to get back at Vocal Adrenaline, while Mr. Schue went in his office for a few minutes.

After they cleaned the room up, they sat down waiting for Mr. Schue. Puck came up with the idea of slashing their Ranger Rovers’ tires. Kurt moved seats and spoke quietly. “You work in a tire shop. $200 a piece ring a bell? That’s $800 per Ranger Rover and there were like 20 of them. You got $15,000-20,000 to pay for that if you get caught?” He got up and moved back to his seat next to Dave.

“Right. Skip the tire slashing. We just let all of the air out of all of their tires. That will be a totally free way to get back at them. Finn and I can sneak over there after lunch tomorrow.”

Artie said, “Whatever, dude, but Akron’s like a 2½ hour drive each way. That’s a lot of gas and time. Let’s just focus on doing our best. We’ve got like six days of practice left. And we haven’t quite gotten ourselves back to where we were before Jesse left us. The best revenge is for us to still kill it at Regionals.”

Azimio agreed with Artie. “I know it easy to fight back. But is it worth it? I’m with Artie. You two would be better off working on Finn’s dancing for five hours than drive to Akron and back just to annoy them.”

Just then, Mr. Schue walked back in the room. “You all need to get to fourth period. Get going. He handed them all passes for being tardy. I’ll deal with Vocal Adrenaline. Please stay out of it. If any of you caught what they did to Rachel on video, send it to me right away.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Rachel received a pass during last period to go to Mr. Schue’s office. When she got there, she found Shelby sitting in the office as well.

“Mr. Schue I don’t really have anything to say to Shelby right now.”

“I understand. You don’t have to speak to her, but I want you to hear what she has to say.”

“Rachel, first off, I did not authorize or know that my kids were coming here today. Somehow they all managed to come up with ways to get excused from school today. We meet last period so that we can just continue to work when school ends. I didn’t know they weren’t at school this morning until Will called me at lunch and told me what they had done. They behaved poorly and their conduct could get us disqualified from Regionals.”

“Seems reasonable to me,” Rachel said. “That and paying to replace my clothes and shoes since that paint will never come out. I’m also covered in bruises now.”

“I am sincerely sorry that they injured you. They will most certainly cover the cost of replacing whatever they damaged. Just have Will send me a receipt after you replace them.”

“You should have left me alone and let me meet you after graduation. I don’t need this drama in my life right now.”

“Will’s solution is for me to step down from coaching VA at the end of the school year. I caused all of this and I should be the one to pay the price, not my students. The other requirement is that I go to counseling, which I will do. After I met you, I realized that what I want is a child of my own, which you are not. Not a child I mean. You’re practically an adult. We could be friends, perhaps, one day, but I can never be your mom unless you choose that role for me and we really work at it. I’m going to get my life together. I have a lot of unresolved guilt and feelings of loss, none of which are your fault. You already have two parents who love you, who did nothing wrong. I agreed to be a surrogate. If I had wanted a child to raise, I should have done that and I still could at some point, if I get my life in order. You have my contact information. At any point in time you want to talk to me, feel free to contact me. I won’t try to make myself part of your life.”

“I’m not quite sure I understand. In exchange for Mr. Schue not bringing Vocal Adrenaline’s behavior to the attention of the Show Choir Board, you are going to resign as the coach for VA.”

“You are correct, Rachel,” Mr. Schue said. “She’ll abide by the no contact agreement. No contact unless you initiate it. She will attempt to re-educate VA into following the Show Choir rules. I know that what the VA kids did was wrong, but they’ve also been led to believe that winning is their only option. They rehearse 20 hours a week. Shelby has done those kids a great disservice and I would rather have her spend the next three months doing whatever she can to undo the damage that she’s done. Having them disqualified won’t teach them anything other than to try harder to not get caught.”

“I get it,” Rachel said. “I know you weren’t much older than me when you agreed to be a surrogate. I understand that the whole situation was more than you could handle. I had thought about doing something similar myself some day, but I think I should wait until I am much older to think about it again. I am glad that you did what you did. My dads are great and I love both of them. But it doesn’t seem to have worked out well for you. I hope you find someone to help you. If there’s nothing else, I’d like to leave now.”

“Sure, Rachel.”

Rachel left the room, and pulled the door closed behind her.

“She took that better than I had expected,” Mr. Schue said. “She has been a lot more mature about this than you have. I hope you get some help. This is your only offer from me though. If your kids come back here and cause anymore trouble for us, our deal is off and I’ll turn the evidence in to the Show Choir Board.”

“I understand. I think I’ll go back to New York for a while after the school year ends.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

That afternoon, Kurt went to work after Cheerios practice. He decided to try eating dinner at home again that night. He went straight to the kitchen to get dinner started and found that Carole was already there and dinner was being carried into the dining room. Kurt ran downstairs to scrub his hands again and stay out Carole’s way while doing it.

When he got to the bottom of the stairs, he was shocked to find the state his room was in. There was dirty laundry all around. Kurt could see that someone had been using the futon. Stuff on his shelves had been moved around. He went into the closet to find even more clothes on the floor and his hanging clothes had been riffled through.

He stepped over the clothes on the floor and went into the bathroom, where he found several wet or previously wet towels lying on the floor and at least one was his. Stuff from the medicine cabinet was out on the counter – a toothbrush, toothpaste, a razor, and a brush. It smelled damp, like the vent wasn’t being used.

Kurt scrubbed his hands and dried them on a clean towel, which he hung up on his rack. He pulled his phone out and photographed the bathroom, the closet, and the bedroom before he went back upstairs.

He sat down at the table and looked at what was being served. He asked politely, “Do you need some help bring the rest of the food in?”

Carole looked at him strangely. “The rest?”

“There aren’t any vegetables.”

“Oh. Finn won’t eat them, so I usually don’t bother during the week.”

Kurt bit his tongue and served himself some of the cheesy potato casserole and a piece of heavily battered chicken, which looked like something from the frozen section of the grocery store. As soon as he finished, he excused himself and put his dishes in the dishwasher.

He grabbed his coat and went back out to his Navigator. He took a deep breath and willed himself not to cry. He pulled out and went to the library. He texted Burt when he got there, letting him know where he was.

When the library was getting ready to close, Kurt texted Dave and told him that he was on his way. He texted Burt again, telling him that he was going to Dave’s.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt did a load of laundry after he got to Dave’s. He worked in silence. He read ahead in history while he waited in the living room to hear the washer cycle finish. Once he hung some of the items up to dry and tossed the rest in the dryer, he went upstairs.

Dave was lying on his bed with his eyes closed listening to music when Kurt walked in. He opened his eyes when he heard Kurt drop his backpack on the floor. Kurt went into the bathroom and showered. He got out to find pajamas waiting for him on the sink. He put them on, did his moisturizing, and brushed his teeth. He stared intently at himself in the mirror.

Dave knew he had been out of the shower long enough to be dressed and he stepped inside. “You’re gorgeous. You can come out here and let me stare at you instead of staring at yourself.”

Kurt laughed. “I’m thinking. I’m trying not to think. I end up thinking about not thinking. It’s a vicious cycle.”

Dave walked up behind him and wrapped his arms around him.

“Did you have a nice dinner?”

“We did. Judy came over. She seems nice enough. Very proper.”

“Makes sense. Quinn always seemed very controlled and proper.”

“So, what happened that has caused this attempt at not thinking?”

“I can’t even talk about it. You can look through the pictures on my phone while I go grab my stuff out of the dryer.”

Dave took Kurt’s phone and sat down on the bed while Kurt went down and came back up. Kurt folded his clothes and hung some of them in Dave’s closet. He packed an overnight bag for Nationals. He plopped down on the bed next to Dave once he had finished.

“So, Finn has trashed your room.”

“Bingo. And it seems that Carole doesn’t serve vegetables because Finn won’t eat them. I went home to make dinner and she had already made it. I can’t allow myself to think about this right now. I completely understand Rachel’s perspective on just leaving the Jesse issue hanging until after Regionals. Sometimes, there’s not enough room in one brain to think about so many things at once and some things just have to get stuffed into an ‘I can’t think about this right now’ folder.”

“Okay. How about I snuggle you and we go to sleep? You’re leaving after lunch tomorrow and I won’t see you again until Sunday. I need all the snuggles I can get to tide me over.”

“You’re such a sap.”

“You love it.”

“I do. And I love you.” He got up and turned all the lights off. He got under the covers with Dave. He kissed him goodnight, and then flopped over and scooted back as close as he could get.

Dave wrapped his arm around Kurt and held him close. “I love you too.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Glee Club met before school to rehearse. Things were going smoothly considering the upheaval that Jesse leaving had caused.

At lunch, they sat together. Puck, Azimio, and Finn came in carrying trays of food again. This time they had plates of enchilada casserole to share. Kurt didn’t take any, but Dave did.

“That’s pretty good. You should share the recipe.”

“Sure,” Azimio said. “You can copy it down or whatever.” He slid a binder across the table.

“Just email it to me or whatever. I’m not going to copy it sitting here.”

Kurt picked at his food, but eventually ate it knowing how long it would be before dinner. One he finished, he took his tray up to dump the trash. He caught Dave’s eye and motioned just slightly with his head, looking toward the cafeteria doors. Dave got up and dumped his tray and met Kurt in the hall. Kurt took his hand and led him to the auditorium. They went in the costume room. Kurt closed the door behind them. He wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck and just leaned into him.

“You’re really nervous aren’t you?”

Kurt nodded, almost imperceptibly.

Dave ran his hands up and down Kurt’s back. “Just try to relax. It’s all you can do. I love you and I will still love you whether the Cheerios win or not. And I will become your bodyguard 24/7 to keep Coach Sue from murdering you if the Cheerios don’t win.”

Kurt laughed. “I can see that, you know. You’re very protective.”

Dave adjusted the way they were standing so that he could kiss Kurt. “Do your best. That’s all you can do.”

“I will. I’ll miss you. I have to go. I don’t know how she could make me run laps, but I’m sure she’d come up with a way. I can’t be late to the bus. I love you.” Kurt kissed him and let go.

Dave opened the door and followed Kurt out to the exterior doors. He stood inside the school door watching Kurt board the tour bus that Santana finally convinced Sue to hire. Kurt looked back and waved as he got on the bus.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

By 6:30, the Cheerios had put their bags in their rooms and were down in the lobby waiting to go to practice. After an hour of practice, with thankfully no lap running for Kurt, they finally went to eat dinner. Coach Sue sent them all back to their rooms as soon as they got back, insisting that they all go to bed by 10:00pm.

She had a wake up call set for 7:00 and expected everyone to be back down in the lobby at 8:00 for breakfast. The hotel was a loud, crowded place with so many cheerleaders there. Kurt longed for an empty quiet room so he could focus his thoughts.

Once they finished breakfast, they reboarded the bus and headed to the arena. They watched all morning. Sue ordered in lunch and they ate in the lobby during the lunch break. They watched for the first two hours after lunch and then left the participant observation area to warm up. They performed nearly flawlessly and headed back to their seats to wait to hear the finalists. Kurt wished he could use his phone because he really wanted to text Dave, but Coach Sue had threatened to take any phone she saw out during the competition.

When the finalists were named, she allowed them to use their phones for five minutes while they were lining up to move down into the finalist seating.

\--We’re finalists.

\--Turning the TV on.

\--I love you.

\--Relax and focus. You’ve got this. I love you too.

Kurt put his phone back away.

Back in Lima, Paul and Dave watched the finals in their den. Burt set the Tivo to record the finals while he watched a basketball game with Finn.

Two hours later, the five finalists had performed and they were awaiting the results. During the final commercial break, the final five teams were positioned in the performance area. When they were back live from the break, the announcer named the teams and their placements in reverse order.

“And our 2010 National Cheerleading Champions for the sixth year in a row are the Cheerios from Lima, Ohio led by Coach Sue Sylvester.”

There were lots of photos and interviews once the cameras stopped rolling. Kurt didn’t get a chance to get back to his phone for nearly an hour. When he picked it up there were congratulatory texts from Dave, Paul, Tina, Mercedes, and even Artie, Puck, and Azimio. He sent a group text thanking them.

He sent a text to his dad.

\--We won!

He got one back a couple of minutes later.

\--You did good.

Once the hubbub died down, they were finally able to get on their bus and go out for a quick dinner on their way back to Lima. They didn’t get back to the school until 2:00 in the morning. Kurt grabbed his bags and slowly moved down the aisle as everyone got off the bus. When he finally stepped into the parking lot, he found Dave waiting for him.

Dave walked towards him. Once he was close enough, he pulled him into a hug, and then kissed him chastely. “You did it. You were amazing! You didn’t tell me you were singing for like 15 minutes in French.” Dave took his hand and led him over to his truck. He opened the passenger door and let Kurt get in.

Kurt waited to respond until Dave was in the driver’s seat. “We weren’t allowed to tell anyone. It’s part of the contract we sign. I’m relieved it’s over. It was fun in some ways, but it was really stressful too. I’m glad to be back.”

“Let’s go get some sleep. I brought you a snack. Look in the glove box.”

Kurt pulled out a small bag that had a bowl of his favorite chicken salad and a spoon in it. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Kurt ate while Dave drove. He pulled into the driveway and left his truck there to keep from waking Paul up by opening the garage door. Kurt went straight to the bathroom. He found his Hershey Kiss pajamas laying out for him on the sink. He put them on when he got out of the shower. He skipped moisturizing and just got in bed with Dave.

“Are you making a statement with your pajama choice?”

“I am.”

Kurt kissed him. “You can kiss me whenever you want. You surprised me tonight kissing me in front of everyone.”

“The girls kiss their boyfriends in front of everyone. Why can’t I kiss my boyfriend in front of everyone too?”

“You can. You did. Is that something we do in public now? I said I’d follow your lead. Was that a one-time, ‘you won the championship’ kiss?”

“Nope, not a one-time thing, just a first time.”

“Mmm.” Kurt wrapped himself around Dave and put his head on his chest. “Let’s sleep. We’ll kiss more when we wake up.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sunday morning after their late brunch, Kurt went back home to collect more clothes for the following week and to get another pair of boots. He opened the door and went inside. It was quiet, except he could hear faint voices coming from the dining room.

He walked into the kitchen to see the remnants of sausage, gravy, and canned biscuits sitting on the stovetop. He could hear his dad and Carole talking.

“Burt, he hasn’t been here in days and when he was here, he stayed just long enough to eat and then he left again. He has no curfew. He sleeps over at his boyfriend’s house most of the time. He comes and goes as he pleases. Things can’t continue this way. The rules are going to have to be fair. He needs to sleep at home. Finn would never be allowed to spend the night at his girlfriend’s house or for her to spend the night in our home, especially not in the same bed.”

“Kurt is a good kid. He doesn’t need rules like that.”

“So, you’re saying that Finn’s not a good kid?”

“You know I’m not.”

“They’re kids, Burt. They need rules.”

Kurt left the room quietly, not willing to stand around and eavesdrop anymore. He went down to his room, grabbed what he had come for, but only after taking more pictures of the even messier basement. He quietly left the house and went back to Dave’s.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

He stopped by the Lima Bean and splurged on an expensive coffee. He was still exhausted even after sleeping in and he had schoolwork left to do. He drove back to Dave’s. They took their schoolwork down to the dining room in an effort to be just uncomfortable enough to be able to stay awake and focus on their homework.

Paul came in around 1:00. “You two ready for lunch? I heard you in here a couple of hours ago. If you’re not hungry, I’ll just eat some leftovers from the freezer.”

“Go ahead. I’m going to keep working,” Dave said.

“I’m not hungry yet, but thanks.”

“We’re going out for a celebratory dinner tonight. 6:00. Be ready.”

“Okay.”

“We’re meeting up with your dad and Carole.”

“We are we going?”

“I’m not sure yet. He’s supposed to text me and let me know.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“I’ll meet you two there. I’m just going to run home and get another bottle of the lotion I use. I didn’t realize how close to needing the new one I was. I’m going to grab it and my art stuff. I miss sketching.” He kissed Dave and headed out the door.

He opened the front door and went inside. He didn’t take his coat off since he wasn’t going to be there long. He walked through the living room where Finn was zoned out watching a basketball game and went down into the basement. He got to the bottom of the stairs to find Finn’s dirty laundry had been picked up off the floor and was in a basket on the end of his bed. He could hear water running, so he walked into the closet. He found Carole cleaning the countertop in the bathroom. The whole room had just been cleaned. He could smell the awful harsh chemicals that he never used to clean.

She wiped the counter dry with a towel and then tossed it in the pile she leaned over to pick up. She turned and jumped.

“Kurt. You startled me.”

“Sorry. I needed something and I came to pick it up.” He searched the top of his dresser, which was no longer orderly the way he had left it. “But it seems to not be here. I know I had a full bottle because I ordered two the last time to save on shipping.”

“If you’ll excuse me, I need to get these up to the washer.”

He stepped back out in the room, giving her enough space to walk through the closet without dripping water on anything. Once she was out of the closet he stepped back in and looked through the bottles on his dresser again, but he still couldn’t find the bottle he was looking for. He grabbed a tote bag, took a deep breath, and went back into his room to get his art supplies together.

He went to his shelf to get his sketchpads, but found that they had been moved from their original positions, despite being where they had been, more or less. He put them all in the tote bag. He opened his sewing cabinet drawer and pulled out all of his pencil bags and put them in the tote bag as well. By then, Carole had come back downstairs with some scented Swiffer or something and she started using it on the floor. Kurt looked for the French dictionary he wanted to take and finally found it. He noticed that someone had been fooling with his Chinese lantern lights and he carefully took them down and put them in his bag as well. He went back upstairs.

He opened the freezer to find no frozen vegetables. He looked around and didn’t find any fresh or canned ones either. The freezer was full of frozen waffles, pizzas, and pizza rolls. Kurt suppressed the urge to cry. He turned and walked into the living room.

“Finn?”

“Yeah?”

Kurt heard Carole come into the room. She stopped.

“I cannot find a particular bottle of lotion that I left on my dresser. I specifically asked you not to touch anything of mine, but since my request went unheeded, I’m asking you if you know where the missing bottle is.”

“Um, well, when I came out of the bathroom one morning, I accidentally knocked all of your bottles over. I put them all back, but one of them broke. I put everything back up there, but the lid cracked on one of the bottles and it was leaking, so I tossed it.”

“You tossed it?”

“Yeah, dude. The lid broke.”

Carole walked the rest of the way through the living room and put the Swiffer back in the garage.

“That bottle cost me $30 and it was a 6-month supply.”

“Thirty dollars for a bottle of lotion? That’s nuts.”

“Your opinion about my preferences is irrelevant. You owe me $30.”

“No way, dude. You shouldn’t leave it sit out if it costs that much.”

Kurt bit his tongue and tried to regroup. He saw Carole come in from the garage and go upstairs. By the time she came back down, Kurt was gone.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

It was a long meal at the steakhouse. Kurt sat in silence unless directly spoken to. Dave took his hand under the table and squeezed it. Burt ordered a large steak, a loaded baked potato, and ate a few rolls. He drank a regular soda and ordered dessert.

After they finished eating and were heading out the door, Burt pulled Kurt into a hug. Kurt hugged him back and said two words as he stepped back and walked out the door.

“Uncle Andy.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next week, Glee Club rehearsed before school and every day at lunch. When they met at lunch on Monday, they found out the devastating news that Coach Sue was going to be one of the judges for Regionals. At first, they were really down, knowing that she would do anything in her power to keep them from winning.

They finally talked themselves back into working as hard as they could and doing their best because winning was great, but doing their best and having fun was more important. They had been a ragtag group of people who didn’t know each other and now they were a fairly cohesive group. Some had gotten closer than others, but everyone had come to respect each other’s talents.

Cheerios practices dropped down to two hours a week since Nationals were over. Kurt only had to wear his uniform to school one last time on Friday. There were still a few more home basketball games to cheer for, but that was it.

Kurt didn’t go home all week. The six of them that hung around together went out to the mall Wednesday after Kurt got off and just goofed around for a while. Kurt looked through the new summer clothes that were starting to show up in the stores. They got milkshakes or smoothies and didn’t really end up buying much else.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When they arrived at the theater on Saturday, they found out who the other judges were – Rod Remington, Olivia Newton-John, and Josh Groban.

“We’re toast,” Puck said.

“What do mean, Puck?” Rachel asked.

“That Josh Groban dude is going to hate us on principal. He’s the one that came to the Acafella’s show at McKinley and told Mr. Ryerson off. You think he’s going to forget that?”

“Just shut it, Puck,” Santana said. “We’re going to go out there and kill it. End of discussion. If the judges are lame and biased, then that’s on them. I didn’t convince my abuela to come watch us just for us to go out there and be terrible. Get it together, people!”

Kurt agreed with her. “She’s right. We do our best no matter what.   If we lose, it won’t be because we gave up.”

“Let’s warm up,” Rachel insisted.

Once they had warmed up, she played the backing track for “Anyway You Want it” and they sang along. They were second to perform and they headed to the stage. But before they left the room, they could hear an Olivia Newton-John/Josh Groban mash up.

“Argh. Someone tipped Aural Intensity off as to who the other judges were,” Kurt said.

“I’d put my money on Coach Sue. She knew that we needed second place to keep the club next year and she knew we could never beat Vocal Adrenaline, so she tipped Aural Intensity off so they would place second,” Rachel said.

“I don’t care,” Santana practically yelled. “So, what? Let’s go. We do our best, period. Move.”

They lined up on the side of the stage and entered while the curtain was down. They killed all of their songs. When they left the stage, Mr. Schue went to look for the Aural Intensity coach. He found her and cornered her. He got her to confess that she had gotten an anonymous letter in the mail telling her the identities of the judges and that she had changed their set list. He managed to get close enough to a couple of the Aural Intensity members to flatter them into giving away when they had started to rehearse their mash-up.

During the intermission, he managed to find one of the Show Choir board members and had him listen to the evidence he had. A few minutes later, he saw the man approach Aural Intensity’s coach.

The group sat through the rest of the performances. They were all amazed by Jesse and Vocal Adrenaline. No matter how much they disliked what he had done, their performance of “Bohemian Rhapsody” was amazing and everyone knew it. When it finally came time for the placement to be announced, Hoosier Harmonies, New Directions, and Vocal Adrenaline were called to the stage.

“In third place, Hoosier Harmonies, from Indianapolis, Indiana. In second place, New Directions from Lima, Ohio, and in first place and headed to Nationals for the 8th year in a row, Vocal Adrenaline from Akron, Ohio.”

No team had ever been so happy to come in second. They hugged each other and jumped all around. Once the commotion died down, Mr. Schue stepped out and got them to organize themselves and he took a few photos. They changed quickly and got back on the bus.

“I can’t believe Aural Intensity wasn’t in the top three,” Rachel said once they were on the road.

Mr. Schue responded. “That would be because their coach withdrew them from consideration.”

“Why?”

“They cheated. Creating a set list of songs performed by the judges meant that they knew who the judges would be and when confronted, their coach confessed. Rather than face disbanding their club due to cheating, the coach pulled them from the competition list.”

“So, we have next year!” Rachel squealed.

“We do. We definitely do.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

During the ride back to the school, Kurt got a text saying that he needed to come home when they got back. He showed Dave the text. He texted Dave rather than risk someone overhearing him.

\--I’m pretty sure this is some type of showdown or intervention or whatever.

He put his phone away and laid his head on Dave’s shoulder. He reached for Dave’s hand and interlaced heir fingers and tried to relax.

When they finally arrived at the school, Kurt offered to drive Finn home. Burt and Carole were in the living room waiting for them.

“How did you all do?”

“We came in second, which was the best possible outcome. We were up against the group that has won the national title for the last seven years.”

“Well, congratulations then. We’re all planning to go out for dinner later. Mr. Schue texted everyone’s emergency contacts and invited them to Breadstix later.”

“Yeah, he told us on the bus,” Finn said.

“So, why did you want me to come home, Dad?”

“We need to have a family talk.”

“Alright.”

Burt sat in the recliner from the Hudson’s house. The other three sat on the sofa. “We need to streamline our family rules. Finn has brought up how Kurt is allowed to go and come freely, but he has a curfew. He’s brought up some other issues as well. So, effective immediately, Kurt will have a curfew of 10:00 on school nights and midnight on Friday and Saturday. You need to ask permission to go out if you’re not going to someone’s house we already know. And when you are, you need to let us know whose house you’re going to.”

“You’re serious?” Kurt asked. “I’ve never had to do that.   Ever.”

“I’m aware of that, Kurt. That’s why I said these are changes.”

Carole spoke next. “There will be no more overnights at boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s houses. And they won’t be spending the night here either.”

“This is unreasonable. I’ve been spending the night at Dave’s and he’s spent nights here for the last 5½ months. How has that caused any problems?”

“The problem it’s causing is that it’s not fair to Finn.”

“Is Finn getting a job?”

Carole answered, “No.”

“Why not?”

“He needs time to get his schoolwork done,” Carole responded.

“I work 9-12 hours, adhere to Coach Sue’s ridiculous number of hours of Cheerios practice, then cheer at games and I still get my schoolwork done.”

No one said anything.

“Does that mean I get to quit? Not that I don’t like working at the shop because I do actually like it. I just want to know if I’m going to be allowed to quit and then you’re going to pay my car insurance and stuff.”

“No, Kurt. You want that extra stuff, you’ll still pay for it.”

“So, if Finn wants another video game, he’s going to pay for it himself?”

“Dude, I don’t have any money.”

“Thus my comment about you getting a job.”

“I don’t have time to work.”

“What do you need all that free time for, Finn? Are you making straight A’s? Or going to tutoring to get your grades up as high as you can?”

“My grades are fine.”

“What chores do you do around here?”

“Mom does the chores. I don’t know how to do any of that stuff.”

“Ever heard of instruction manuals or asking someone to show you?”

“Kurt,” Burt said with a warning.

“No, I will not be quiet.” He pulled his phone out. “This is how Finn keeps ‘our’ room. His dirty laundry is everywhere. Everything of mine has been touched since he moved in. I specifically asked him to leave my stuff alone, but he didn’t. He tossed a $30 bottle of lotion because the cap broke. He leaves wet towels on the floor. He doesn’t put anything back that he gets out. He’s obviously not running the vent because the whole area smells damp already.”

“I didn’t mess with your stuff. I mean, I might have looked at it, but I didn’t damage anything except that lotion bottle by accident.”

“I didn’t say don’t ‘mess’ with my stuff. I asked you not to touch it. That means not moving it. Not picking it up. Nothing.”

Finn rolled his eyes.

“You’ve been sitting on my futon, or someone has.”

“Who cares, dude. It’s a couch.”

“No. It’s my bed. Would you want me to sit on your bed or let other people sit on it?”

“I don’t know. I never thought about it.”

“Before you two moved in I did EVERYTHING. I cooked, I cleaned, and I did most of the grocery shopping. I worked, I went to football practice, Glee Club practice and then Cheerios instead of football. I’ve never gotten in trouble at school or anywhere else. I’ve never even sassed my dad until just now. I’ve never balked at doing what he asked. But I came home last weekend to find Carole cleaning the basement. She had picked up Finn’s dirty laundry. She cleaned the bathroom. She cleaned the floor. Finn was sitting up here on the sofa watching a basketball game. How is that reasonable, Finn? I mean if you had been up here with a pile of books doing research, I can see how MAYBE Carole could offer to do those things for you. But you’re not a baby, Finn. You’re 16. Grow up. I’m not going to live by the rules set for a child, like a curfew and where I can go, just because you’re a 16 year old child.”

Burt spoke sternly. “I want you to go sit in your room for 10 minutes and reconsider this attitude problem you’re having all of a sudden.”

Kurt stood and walked downstairs. He pulled his phone out of his pocket before he got all the way down and texted Dave.

\--I need you to get boxes and tape, please. I’m moving out ASAP. While everyone is celebrating at Breadstix, I’m packing my stuff. If I can’t stay with you, I’m not sure what I’ll do, but I’m not staying here.

He looked up when he got to the bottom of the stairs. His futon was gone and in its place was a twin bed with a dark gray comforter. His phone pinged with a response from Dave.

\--I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll get boxes together and tape. Just let me know when to be there to help you pack. I’ll go talk to my dad, but I’m sure it’s not a problem.

\--We’ll need your truck too. My futon is missing from my room. I just came down here and there’s a twin bed instead. If my futon is in the garage, we’re taking it with us.

\--I’ll have my dad text Mr. Schue back saying that we aren’t going to Breadstix.

Kurt heard Burt on the steps. He walked into the closet to hide the fact that he was texting.

\--Gotta go. I’ll text you when to come.

Kurt set his phone to silent and put it in his pocket.

“Kurt?”

“Yeah, Dad. I’m in here.” Kurt stepped out of the closet.

“Your behavior up there was unacceptable.”

“Possibly. But your behavior caused all of this. You’ve been dating Carole for six weeks. You asked them to move in here after dating her for four weeks. Finn doesn’t even like me. We do not hang out together. We have no mutual friends. He’s slushied me. Help lock me in lockers and port-a-poties. He threw pee balloons at me. He tries to cheat off of Brittany. He is slightly homophobic. You forced him to move into my bedroom. You caused this. I get that you’ve fallen in love. I never once said anything against Carole. But she’s raised Finn to be a spoiled brat. He does nothing to help, but she obviously buys him whatever he wants. He needs supervision. I do not. I have not been a child for a long, long time. And for the first time since Mom died, I’ve actually been happy for the last 5 ½ months. For the first time, I have someone besides you who cares about me. I have friends. And now because you jumped the gun in asking your girlfriend to move in with us, I have to pay the price by giving up my freedom? You already took my only refuge away. This room used to be where I could go to escape the stress of living in a small town that hates me on principal. Now, I have a homophobic, mostly ex-bully sharing that space.”

“I can’t take it back. I won’t.”

“That’s fine. But I won’t live under a monarchy where Carole dictates what I can and can’t do. She just moved in and took over. All of the food the doctor told you to eat is nowhere to be found. Canned biscuits, gravy, and pork sausage? I saw breakfast one morning when I came in and grabbed more clothes and left again without you even noticing that I was here. Where’s my futon? Why do I have a twin bed now? Don’t bother answering. I already know. If I don’t have a bed big enough for two people to sleep in then Dave can’t sleep over in my bed anymore. Problem solved.”

“Kurt, she was just trying to make the room more fair.”

“Fair? Why do places to sleep need to be fair? I got rid of my cool white chair that I loved and I moved my spotlight to the garage to make room for Finn’s stuff. How much do I have to give up to make things fair?”

“She just wants one set of rules that everyone follows. It’s not that much to ask.”

“It’s too much. You jumped the gun and I’m paying the price. Why was there no congratulatory text from you after Nationals last week? Everyone else, all of my friends, even Puck sent me texts within minutes of the announcement that we had won. Were you even watching me?”

Burt didn’t answer immediately. “I set the Tivo to record it, so you’d have the recording and I kept flipping back and forth during the commercials on the game we were watching, but I lost track of time and I missed the live performance. After you texted me, I switched and started to record the game. I watched the recording. You were really good.”

“Aren’t we going to be late to Breadstix?”

“Yeah, we gotta get going.”

“I’m going to drive separately.”

“Fine.” Burt went back upstairs.

Kurt pulled his phone out.

\--Come now. I’ll turn the porch light on when they’re gone so you’ll know the coast is clear.

\--Be right there.

Kurt waited until Burt had been gone long enough to get to Breadstix to text him that he was not coming.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Two hours later, Kurt and Dave pulled out of the driveway and drove to Dave’s house. Paul was pulling out of the garage when they pulled up. They drove both of their vehicles into the garage and shut the door behind them. Paul parked in the driveway and met them inside the house.

“Your dad is going to be really angry over this.”

“I know, but I just can’t deal with it right now. It would have been different if Finn were accepting. He plays up the clueless cute jock persona. He’s not as dumb as he lets people think he is. He didn’t want to move in. He didn’t want to share a room. By being the worst roommate, he made me not want to be there. I can’t completely rule out some kind of plan to keep me away from home as much as possible. But I’m imagining that it backfired on him when he complained about me getting complete freedom and him still having a curfew. I would venture to guess that he was trying to get Carole to remove his curfew, not make it so that I would be home more often.”

“I don’t know him well enough to even guess his motivations,” Paul said. “But you’re welcome to stay here. I’ve told you that for ages.”

“I just was so angry when I saw that Finn had touched everything I own after I asked him not to touch anything. I just didn’t want any of my stuff there anymore.”

“I understand.”

“I have a really weird and kind of morbid question. I need to know about wills. What would happen to my dad’s shop if he died? What about the house? Any money he might have in the bank? And I also want to ask you a question no one should ever be asked.”

“What?”

“Would you be willing to be my guardian if something happened to my dad? I just can’t live anymore being afraid of being sent to my Uncle Andy’s. I know that it would only be an issue for the next year and a half, but I don’t want Aunt Mildred and Uncle Andy to inherit anything that belongs to my dad most especially me.”

“It would be like sending Kurt to Uncle Jeb’s.”

“Oh. I see. No need for further explanation.”

“I can draw up a will that will protect your father’s assets and put them in a trust until you turn 18 or whatever age over 18 your dad would choose. And I can add my name as your guardian, should your dad pass away before you turn 18. That would put you in the position of having to live with me, even if you and Dave break up between now and then.”

“Well, I’m hoping that won’t be the case, but even if Dave broke up with me, I’d rather live in your garage with a portable heater than to move to Arkansas and move in with my aunt and uncle.”

“I would never make you live in the garage, but I understand the sentiment. I will draw a will up to reflect these issues and I’ll get your mule-headed dad to listen to me about it. And while I’m at it, I’ll do the same thing for myself. I haven’t written a new will since the divorce.”

“Who would I live with?”

“I need to think about that and talk to a few people. I’ll get back to you with an answer, but probably my parents since you’re only a year and a half from being 18.”

Kurt felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. “I’m sure they’re back home now and they’ve realized that I’ve moved out.” He pulled his phone out to look at it. He called Burt instead of texting.

“Kurt, where are you?”

“You know where I am.”

“Why is all of your stuff gone?”

“I told you that I cannot live with the guidelines you set earlier this evening.”

“Come home.”

“No. We can meet tomorrow.” Kurt covered the phone. “Can we meet at your office?”

Paul nodded and said, “11:00”.

“Meet me at Paul’s office at 11:00. We can talk then.”

“You’re a runaway now. I could call the police.”

“I’ve not run away. You know that I am perfectly safe. You know where I am. At best, I’ve been disobedient. I don’t think the police will care. And if they’re being particularly spiteful for being annoyed for no good reason, they’ll book me in juvie and put in me in foster care. Stop be overly dramatic. Get some sleep. I will see you tomorrow. Don’t bring Carole. This doesn’t concern her. If you want to meet with her with you, we can set another time. 11:00 tomorrow morning.”

“Kurt..”

“Don’t take that tone with me. I am not a disobedient 8 year old. I’m not sleeping in a room with a homophobic faux step-sibling who can’t hang his wet towels up or put his laundry in a basket. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Paul laughed. “Homophobic faux step-sibling?”

“Yep.”

“That’s a good one.”

“Well, it’s true. Look.” Kurt pulled up the photos he’d taken of the basement and showed them to Paul.

“Gross.”

“I agree. And it smells down there. I use natural cleaners, you know.”

“Of course, you already got me to replace all our toxic cleaners,” Paul laughed.

“Well, she was using bleach-based stuff because Finn hasn’t been running the vent and he leaves wet towels laying around. I got a headache from being in my own room. I’m going to need to air my clothes out somehow tomorrow. They all smell like a combination of dampness and bleach. I may just rewash all of them, if you don’t mind.”

“Knock yourself out.”

“Thanks. I’m sorry to drag you into the middle of this.”

“Meh. It’s fine. We like having you here. Why don’t you just leave all of that stuff to deal with tomorrow? I mean if your dad throws a fit and wants the furniture brought back because he paid for it, it would be easier to do that if you haven’t already carried it up two flights of stairs.”

“That’s true. I guess I need to figure out what I paid for myself. I can go ahead and keep that stuff for certain. I’m tired. I just want to go shower and sleep for now.”


	13. Chapter 13

Kurt started washing clothes the next morning when he got up. Sorting and washing gave him something fairly mind-numbing to do. He kept at it until he had to leave.

He pulled up at Paul’s office at 10:55. He took a couple of minutes to try to ground himself before he got out. He knocked on the door and Paul opened it and relocked it after Kurt stepped inside. Burt was already there. Kurt sat down at a conference table across from Burt.

“There are several reasons that I wanted to speak to you in a more formal setting. First and foremost is that I’ve asked Paul to help you write a will. If you already have one, I would like to see it.”

“I do have one, but having it looked over and fine-tuned isn’t a bad idea. I’ll have Paul look at it. But I do wonder why you’re bringing it up.”

“Well, up until last fall, any heart problems you had were hypothetical, but once you went to the doctor, they were known entities. And you and I were doing well at keep them under control. Your cholesterol had come down. Your blood pressure was under control and you hadn’t had to increase your dose of the anti-arrhythmia drug. But I’ve seen the changes in your diet in the two weeks since Carole has moved in. The frozen vegetables in the freezer have been replaced with cheap frozen pizzas, pizza rolls, and waffles. The cabinet has cans of soup and boxes of macaroni and cheese. I saw loaves of white bread. Beef, pork, and lots of pasta dishes. Cheesy potatoes. Those things are all a good way to undo the improvements you had made. Are you still going for walks? I think you quit when I wasn’t around as much to nag you. I do not under any circumstance want to end up in Uncle Andy and Aunt Mildred’s care. I do not want them to inherit everything you have worked hard for. Paul can help you shield your assets from them so that they go to me once I turn 18. If you marry Carole, she would inherit your property, but she would not get me. Unless she adopted me, I would still go to Uncle Andy and Aunt Mildred. I don’t like talking about this issue anymore than you do, but I am not interested in being adopted by Carole, nor do I want to live under her thumb. She seems like a very nice person, but you had her move in before I had spent more than a few hours with her. I know you’ve been lonely, Dad, but you didn’t think this through.”

“I realize that, but”

Kurt interrupted him, “But you don’t want to look like you’re playing favorites. You want Finn to like you. You want him to be happy in our home because you want Carole to stay. I get that. I may be young, but I’m not stupid. You told Finn that you’d put on an addition. Did you file for a building permit? Did you get someone out to look at the property to make sure that the location you’ve chosen for the addition is suitable?”

“No, not yet.”

“They moved in two weeks ago. You’ve had time to do that.”

“I know. I was hoping that you two would just get over it and get along.”

“That’s what I figured. That’s not going to happen. He acts like I have cooties. He jerks back like I’m contagious. I tried to help him get some stage make up off the day before you surprised him about moving in with us. I didn’t even make contact with his skin and he jumped back like I was going to infect or brand him or something. I didn’t know he was that bothered by my homosexuality, but obviously he is.”

“I didn’t know about those things he had done that you mentioned in your room.”

“You did though. I told you. You just didn’t equate what I said about the football team with Finn specifically.”

“I guess you’re right. He just seems like such a nice kid. I can’t see him doing those things.”

“Well, he wouldn’t do them where you could SEE him do it. He’s not strong. He gives into peer pressure. He’s being nice now because Azimio bullied the bullies. Finn sided with the good guys because there were more guys on Azimio’s side.”

“There’s no way to fix this at this point. I can’t build another room by tomorrow. They can’t move back out. Carole got rid of most of their stuff.”

“You put a lot of eggs in one basket, Dad. You’ve known her for six weeks. The issues we’re dealing with are the things that should have been dealt with BEFORE they moved in. I thought he had changed, but his recent behavior makes me think it was just an act. I had relaxed thinking that the football team had come to their senses and no longer hated me on principal. Now, I don’t know what to think. Finn runs with that crowd. Sharing a room with him means that all of those people who used to do terrible things to me have access to everything that’s important to me.  I changed that tonight. This is spring break. Finn isn’t going to just sit around in the house alone. Just wait until the locusts swarm your kitchen this week. Pretty much whenever I’ve had people over to eat, it’s been a pitch-in, except for those days during Thanksgiving. Those same guys will be back again and again. I was trying to make friends with them, but I’m not close friends with any of them. I’m on speaking terms with them. I’m on friendly terms with Puck and Finn. And now that Finn’s acting weird, I don’t even know if the other guys that have been friendly to me are only doing it to keep Azimio off their backs. Azimio is the only football player that I’ve actually made friends with and he was Dave’s friend first. I won’t subject my personal property to jocks who only tolerate my existence on the team because I help them win games. Maybe they wouldn’t do anything, maybe they would. I have no way of knowing. I know that Finn couldn’t keep his hands off when I specifically told him not to touch anything. Why would the others be any different?”

“What do you expect me to do?”

“First off, don’t act like I ran away. That was uncalled for. You knew where I was and you had a good idea why I was where I was.”

“I know. I was just angry.”

“Get people out to determine whether an addition is even a possibility. You can’t add to either side of the house. I don’t think you can go up unless you can put a room over the garage. And I don’t know where you’d put a room on the back. The only doors that lead to the back yard are in the garage and in the dining room because you turned the previous door in the living room into a window when you put on the first addition. You can’t put a room behind the dining room because that’s where the windows are to the basement. Are you going to take the half bath out and have the foyer lead into a hallway that leads to the addition?”

“I don’t know.”

“It seems to me that if you want all of us to live together, you’re going to have to buy a different house with three or four bedrooms or hope that you can put a room up above the garage. For me that would be great because it would keep Finn on the opposite side of the house, two floors up or down I guess, if he keeps the basement.”

“Kurt…”

“He plays the drums, Dad. He’s good, so he must practice. The farther his room is from mine, the better for my ability to do my schoolwork in the evenings.”

“I didn’t think about that.”

“I know it sounds really rude, but there are a lot of things you didn’t think about.”

“Yeah.”

“So, the second thing I want you to do is to give Paul temporary guardianship of some sort. He knows how to do this legally. I don’t want there to be any circumstance in which I end up in state care.”

“I won’t do that. I won’t give you up. I promised your mom that I would never let anyone take you away from me.”

“You broke that yourself. You brought someone in who pushed me out of my own home.”

“Kurt…”

“I will not be bullied in my own home. I did absolutely NOTHING to deserve to be forced to live with someone who dislikes me and an adult who thinks she has the right to treat me like a child.”

Paul spoke up. “Burt, think about it. Kurt taught Dave to be an adult. Hell, Kurt taught me to be an adult. Neither of us knew how to do the laundry, clean anything decently, cook, grocery shop, none of it. Kurt came into our lives and saved us from ourselves. He patiently taught us both how to take care of ourselves. Who taught him that? He took care of you. You provided a roof over his head, you loved him and provided for him, but he took care of you and you know it. I know that you really like Carole – maybe you even love her. But think about it. Kurt doesn’t need an adult to come in and tell him that he’s a child because he’s not. Dave and I love having him live with us. He’s been nothing but good for both of us. I’m not saying he’s perfect because there’s no such thing. But he’s a good person. He doesn’t need Carole’s rules to function. Maybe Finn does. I don’t know. I never put rules like that in place for David. He never gave me a reason to. Kurt’s welcome to live with us as long as he wants.”

“I don’t want to lose you, Kurt.”

“I know that, Dad. And you’re not losing me. I just don’t understand why you had to rush things with Carole. Why didn’t you give us time to get to know each other? You don’t have to give me an answer. You just need to realize that I’m not moving back in and being treated like a child. Finn needs to grow up. He lounges around while his mother cleans up after him. When Finn gets a job, pays for his own stuff, and he’s willing to do half the chores the right way, and he does his schoolwork like he should, and he earns the right to not have a curfew and to spend the night away from home – that’s when things will be fair. Until then, you’re just taking things away from me without just cause.”

“I see your point.”

“I said you didn’t have to answer about why you rushed things. I have a good idea. If I had to venture a guess, it’s because she turned you down when you asked her to spend the night with you on the nights that I was at Dave’s. She wasn’t willing to leave Finn alone at home all night by himself. And given how he behaves, I don’t blame her. But you thought you could solve the problem by having them live with us. She’d spend the night every night and Finn being home alone wouldn’t be a problem anymore.”

“That’s awfully presumptuous of you.”

“But you didn’t say that I was wrong. Anyway, you seemed upset that I had taken some of the furniture from my room. I took my sewing machine cabinet and the chair to it, the vanity and stool, the spotlight, and the futon. Just tell me how much you want for them, and I’ll pay you after I get my next paycheck. I’m working all of Cassius’ hours during spring break. So, I should have enough to cover the cost. I don’t want to feel like I’ve stolen furniture from you. So, I want to pay you for it. Or if you don’t want me to have it, let me know what to return. I’ll eventually make enough to buy my own.”

“Other than the futon, those things were yours. You chose them for your room. You can pay for the futon because we were going to sell it to offset the cost of buying the twin bed. That’s why it was in the garage.”

“Fine. Let me know how much you were going to sell it for. Once I get paid, I’ll pay you for it. I need to go back to Paul’s and start to unpack. You two can sit here and hash things out, but I’m not coming home until I have a place of my own in my own home, with a keyed doorknob. I’m not going to allow random friends of Finn’s to invade my personal space whenever I’m not home. I love you, Dad. But I won’t live where I don’t feel safe if I have other options. Fix your will. If you’re serious about Carole, but you want me to inherit the shop and whatnot, you’ll have to have that written in your will. Once you remarry, your assets will go to your spouse. I won’t be angry whatever you decide. I just want the choice to be yours. I have boxes to unpack and laundry to do since every article of clothing I own smells like a combo of dampness and bleach. You can text me and we can get together whenever you have time, either at Paul’s or even at home as long as I’m not going to be lectured or bullied in any way. If you find that you can build above the garage, I’ll even help you with the interior work on the weekends or over the summer. The other option might be to expand the living room into the backyard and turn the part of the living room that’s the closest to the kitchen into the dining area. Finn could have the dining room as a bedroom, but I don’t know where he would shower unless you put another bathroom in.”

“I don’t have any answers right now, but I do love you.”

“I know. I love you too. Talk to Paul. Figure things out.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Oh, wow. Your closet looks like it belongs in a magazine.” Kurt threw his arms around Dave’s neck and hugged him.

Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt’s torso and spun him briefly. “I learned from the best.”

Kurt kissed him. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to. I weeded through things, but then I never actually organized. I need a lot less of the space than I thought I did once I got it straightened up. I’m pretty sure that you can fit all of your clothes in there with mine.”

“I agree, but are you sure this is what you want? I can put all of my stuff in one of the spare rooms. You might get tired of me and my stuff.”

“What’s going on?”

“I feel like I’m invading your space like Finn did mine.”

Dave tipped Kurt’s chin up. “Stop right there. Every day I get to spend time with you I feel like I’ve won the lottery. I love you, Kurt. If we were old enough, I’d ask you to live with me in our own place. This is like the next best thing to that. My dad likes you and he has no issues with us. He likes having you here. We get to be together and I love that. Cleaning my closet up and making room for your clothes was actually the first time I’ve ever enjoyed cleaning out a closet.” He winked at Kurt.

“You are a sappy sap.”

“I know. But you love it. And I love having you here.” Dave kissed him, and then managed to rotate him so that they were facing the same direction and Dave’s arms were still around him. “So, while you were gone and I was cleaning out my closet, I was also thinking of ways to rearrange the furniture.”

“Okay. Tell me your vision.”

Dave laughed. “There where the TV is between the windows – we move the bed and put it there. I don’t think we’ll hit our heads on the angled part because we usually sit down in the middle and then either lie down or slide back and sit against the triangle pillows.”

“Good idea.”

“We can still put both side tables next to the bed, but without the lamps. We can hang the mini Chinese lantern lights across the angled wall above the bed and plug them into a power strip with an on off switch and fasten the power strip to the edge of the bed frame where we can just reach down and turn them on and off.”

“Interesting idea.”

“We put the futon where the bed was and we can get some small tables or I can build something to put the lamps on. We can move my desk over next to the closet. And that’s as far as I got while I was reorganizing the closet.”

“Excellent start. We can put the furniture the way you described and see how it works. We can always move it again. It’s not that hard.”

Dave kissed Kurt on the back of the neck. “Don’t fret so much. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather share my space with. And if we ever really get sick of each other, the living room is hardly ever used. One of us can go down there and chill for a while.”

Kurt turned in his arms. “One thing we won’t need anymore is the kissing step.” Kurt kissed him.

Dave laughed. “If you stood on it now, you’d be taller than me.”

“Let’s get the rest of my boxes of clothes to the laundry room. We can bring the boxes with shoes and the shoe racks up. One thing I didn’t grab were my coats in the coat closet. I’ll go over one day this week and get those.”

“Clothes, shoes, futon.”

“Clothes, shoes, move bed, futon.”

“Better.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“So far so good. The bed looks good here. We’ll put the lights up next.”

“After that, you can get your shoes organized while I disassemble the futon enough to get it up here.”

“I think we’re going to have to put my sewing table in one of the spare rooms for now.”

“We’ll see. Let’s just get the first group of things done.” He pulled the power strip out of the shopping bag. “Let’s get this fastened to the bed.”

They pulled the headboard away from the wall slightly and Kurt plugged the power strip in.

“I love the new flat plugs. They make it so much easier to plug stuff in behind furniture.” He pulled the power strip to the right side of the bed because the outlet was closer to that side. “I’ll lie across the bed and hold it in place and you can kneel and cut pieces of the narrow duck tape to hold it in place.”

They worked together and got fastened on.

“Okay let’s plug the string of lights in and get it centered so it looks good. I love the faux wood duck tape. It will blend right in.”

They positioned the lights and got the end sections and the center taped in place.

“I can finish it and you can go get started on the futon disassembly.”

Dave kissed him before he went down to the garage. He came back up about 15 minutes later carrying the end pieces. “Looks perfect. Ready to help me carry the frame and mattress up?”

“Sure.”

Kurt walked up behind Dave and put his hands on his shoulders and jumped. He had done it to Dave so many times before that Dave’s hands just automatically moved to the catch Kurt under the back of his knees. Kurt leaned around the side and kissed Dave on the cheek. “Muah.”

“You’re in a silly mood.”

“Better than grumpy, I figured. Find the joy you can, right?”

“Definitely.”

“Put me down so we can go get the other parts.”

Dave let go and Kurt slid down and moved around him quickly and took off down the stairs. When Dave got to the bottom he didn’t see Kurt anywhere. He looked in the garage and didn’t see him. He went ahead over to where the frame was and Kurt popped out and made him laugh.

“You’re something else.”

“I know.”

Kurt grabbed the end of the frame closest to where he was standing. Dave grabbed the other end and they made their way upstairs. A few more trips later and they had all of the pieces upstairs and the tools they needed. They reassembled it quickly and got the mattress on. Dave took the tools back down and brought the ottoman up and slid it underneath. Kurt opened a box of shoes up and started putting them in the closet on the racks he had brought up earlier.

“What’s left in your truck bed?”

“Umm, I think just your sewing machine desk thing and the chair.”

“Let’s just bring it up and put it in one of the guest rooms, so it’s not in your truck bed and no huge spiders take up residence in it overnight.”

“We can put the boxes with your books and the stuff from your shelves in the closet in there. That way the stuff you’re going to sell doesn’t get mixed up with the stuff you’re keeping.”

An hour later, there was nothing left in the Navigator besides the boxes of clothes he had already boxed up to sell. The truck bed was empty as well.

“Do you want to take this spotlight up to the spare room?”

“We can leave it here for now. You might want to use it when you’re working on whatever you bought all that wood for.”

“True. Showers and snuggles?”

“Laundry, shower, then snuggles. You can go shower while I wait for that last load I put in and I hang up what’s in the washer.”

“Deal.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt flopped back in the bed. “I don’t think I ever want to move again.”

“So, we’re going to live in my room forever?”

“Online college. Work-from-home jobs.”

“You say that now, but I know better. You want to move to New York.”

“I think I do. But I’ve never actually been there. We need to go there before I sign any agreements. Maybe we could find a cheap place to stay for like a week somehow. I want to talk to people who actually work on Broadway. I want to make an informed choice. I love music and I love performing, but maybe there’s something else I’d love just as much that I’ve never considered.”

“I’ve thought about playing sports professionally for a few years, like playing for the NHL, but retiring young enough that I enjoy it while I can, and then move on to something else. Being a sports agent might be cool.”

“What do you have to study to do that?”

“Law and business classes I would imagine.”

“We need to sleep.”

“I was assured there would be snuggles this evening.”

“Yes, of course there are snuggles. They’re right over here.” Kurt reached down and flipped the switch on the power strip to turn the lights off, and then moved his arm so that Dave could snuggle up to him. He ran his hands through Dave’s hair and kissed the top of his head.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“I wish it were Sunday again. I don’t want to get up,” Kurt said.

“Me neither, but we both have places to be.”

“I know.” He gave Dave a quick peck and headed to the bathroom to get ready.

They ate breakfast together and headed their separate ways. When Kurt got to the shop, Puck was already there waiting for him to unlock the door.

“You’re prompt.”

“I like working here. I want to keep working here.”

Kurt laughed. “Same.” He unlocked the door and locked it behind him. He turned off the alarm and looked through the list of repairs that needed done. He told Puck what to get started on. He ended up working on the car in the bay next to Puck.

“So, Finn said you moved out and moved in with Dave.”

“He has a big mouth with no filter.”

“So, it’s true?”

“If the rest of the male population is like Finn, it’s a miracle our species has survived.”

Puck laughed. “What’s so unacceptable about Finn?”

“Wet towels on the bathroom floor, dirty laundry all over everywhere, nothing put away after he uses it. Shall I go on?”

“Nah, I get it. He’s a slob. Mrs. H spoils him rotten.”

“I figured. He doesn’t seem to know how to do anything even remotely adult-ish.”

“So, why’d you move out?”

“What did he tell you?”

“That you had a cow about being given a curfew. He made it out to sound like you had a little bitchfest – Rachel Berry storm out style.”

“He’s exaggerating.”

“Not surprising. He’s as used to getting his way as she is, but usually people give him what he wants because he’s cute or whatever.”

“I can see that working in his favor. But there’s more to it than me getting upset about a curfew. I wish he’d just keep his mouth shut about it. I’m not moving back home any time soon. So, if he talks about it, can you please just tell him you don’t want to hear him whine? God knows someone needs to tell him to knock it off.”

“Got it. Tell me why for real, though.”

“Fine. He looked through all of my stuff after I specifically asked him NOT to touch anything of mine.”

“Not cool. I saw him looking through the clothes in your closet.”

“What were you doing?”

“Standing there. We’re okay, right? I mean I know we’re not friends or whatever, but we work together and I think we’re sort of whatever people are that get along, but don’t hang out together.”

Kurt laughed. “Yeah, that pretty much describes us. We’re fine as long as you weren’t messing with my stuff.”

“I didn’t touch a thing. I did sit on your couch, though. I’m sorry if that’s a problem.”

“It is, but it’s Finn’s fault for not telling you to not sit there. It’s not there anymore anyway. Carole bought a twin bed and removed my futon.”

“Why?”

“All I heard was the word ‘fair’ used in the most ironic of ways during the entire conversation.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“It means that I was told that me having a bed like Finn made things more fair. I have no more understanding of that than you do.”

“Weird.”

“Precisely. Everything about it is weird. But on the upside, at least I like living with Dave and Paul.”

“That sucks though.”

“It is what it is and I just have to deal. So far in my experience, life is rarely fair and oftentimes makes no sense whatsoever. You just have to find the joy where you can and keep going.”

“Yeah.”

“I mean 40-50 years ago, teachers were still trying to force left-handed children to learn to write with their right hands for absolutely no reason whatsoever other than superstition. Historians write about a successful single man who lived his whole life with another successful single man as if the two men could just never seem to find a woman to marry them. As if. It’s so dumb. They were gay, but even when they wrote love letters to each other, the letters are explained away as eloquent flowery speech reminiscent of time gone by when people just spoke like that. Yeah, whatever. No one asks to be born left-handed or gay or with red hair or genetically predispositioned to be chubby or with asthma or with bad eyesight. But some people have to find a way to push themselves to the top of the heap by standing on the backs of others. Maybe if they’d just grab onto a rope and work hard to climb it, they could get to the top without hurting anyone else to do it.”

“I think that’s very similar to the speech you’ve given me before. Something along the lines of ‘Yeah, your life sucks. Fix it somehow instead of hurting other people.”

“Pretty much. I’m a pretty direct, tell-it-like-it-is kind of guy.”

“I’ve been studying those manuals and I going to take some of the certification tests this summer, like the week after school gets out.”

“Good. You’ll make more money that way.”

“I’m making straight A’s this semester. I made mostly A’s and a couple of B’s last semester.”

“That’s impressive.”

“I asked the teachers to keep handing my papers back with my grade turned down like it’s bad. I need to keep my reputation.”

Kurt laughed. “That’s great. Resident badass is a closeted nerd.”

“It’s a perfect cover. I’ve decided that I’m going to college or trade school someplace in Columbus. As soon as I graduate, I’m moving there to be closer to my sister and nana. I want to have as many certifications as I can get, so I can get a job there.”

“Well, you seem pleased with yourself, which is what’s important. Just so you know, I don’t care about the twin bed in Finn’s room. I don’t consider it to be mine. If you stay over with Finn, feel free to sleep in it.”

“Thanks. Beats sleeping on the floor. I’ll probably be over a lot. I’ve always spent quite a bit of time at his place.”

Kurt put down the wrench he had in his hand. “Let me check what you’ve done and then you can move this car outside.” He checked everything over. “It looks good. Put it in the first customer pick up spot. When you come back in you can do the tire rotation and balancing on this car I’ve been working on, and then put it in the second customer pick up spot. I finished everything on it that Cassius didn’t get done on Saturday. Once you put it outside, you can call the number on their work order and tell them it’s ready to pick up. Call the first car’s owner too. I forgot to mention that.”

“Got it.”

Kurt moved on to the next work order.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Spring break week went both more slowly and more quickly than Kurt and Dave wanted it to. With Kurt agreeing to take Cassius’ shifts all week, it didn’t leave them time to do anything together during the daytime.

Dave took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather to stain the wood pieces he had bought outside in the afternoon on Monday. He let the boards sit out during the day on Tuesday to dry more quickly and to air out. He put them in the garage each day before Kurt came back. Wednesday and Thursday, he assembled them. He had kept what he was making a secret from Kurt to surprise him Friday when he got off. He kept with his schedule of helping his dad rearrange some things at his office in the mornings, and working on the pieces in the afternoons.

Dave moved the pieces up to his room and placed them on the ends of the futon anchoring them under the edges of the armrest where the small eyelets wouldn’t be noticeable. He opened the boxes that had Kurt’s books in them and fit them on one end and he put his own books on the other end. He sat the lamps on top and put the book that each of them was reading on the top shelf as well.

He closed the closet doors. He made the bed, straightened a few things on the shelf that his books had been on before, rearranging and making room for Kurt’s sound system which had stayed in a box a week for lack of a place to put it. Once he finished setting it up, he looked around the room and was pleased. He flattened the boxes and carried them down to the garage.

He got to work on dinner and put it in the oven. He wanted them to be able to eat before they headed to school for the next to last home game of the season that evening.

When Kurt got back from work, he let himself in. He put his coat in the closet and followed his nose to the kitchen, where he found Dave.

“Hello, beautiful. I missed you.” Dave kissed him. “I have a surprise for you upstairs.”

“It smells like my surprise is in the oven.”

“It will be done by the time you get out of the shower. Come on up.” Dave walked in front and when the got a couple of feet from the door, he said, “Close your eyes.” He walked backwards leading Kurt a few steps into the room. “Okay, open them.”

“What are those?” Kurt walked closer to the futon. “Side tables that are bookshelves. Very ingenious. I love them. They’re perfect. I like how you made the top shelf wider, so the lamps fit better. My books are on this side and yours are on the other end.” He turned around to look where Dave’s books had been before. “Oh, you made a place for my stereo. Thank you. Everything in here looks great. Do you like it?”

“I do. A lot. Go ahead and go shower. Just come down in some pajama pants or something. I know you can’t risk eating in your uniform before a game.”

Dave plated their food and had it on the table when Kurt walked in. He leaned over and kissed Dave before he sat down. He took a bite.

“That’s really good. I like the adjustments you made. More garlic, less rosemary. And the cilantro is definitely an improvement. Do you like it this way?”

“It’s a lot better. I think I’m not much of a rosemary fan. But I love the cilantro.”

“I really appreciate you cooking for me. I love the side table bookcases. They’re really practical.”

“Oh, I saw the basket liner in the bathroom. I didn’t realize that you finished it last night. I must not have been looking up when you came in. It makes that cheap basket we bought look really nice.”

“It doubles as a cover, in a way. The part that’s folded over the outside of the basket can be folded up and pulled shut to keep the contents of the basket from being on display.”

“Cool. You’ll have to show me.”

“I’m excited to go to Columbus tomorrow.”

“Me too. I forgot to tell you. Quinn had her baby this afternoon. My dad drove Judy to Columbus so she could be with Quinn. They’ll be back some time tomorrow.”

“That’s really tough. I know Mercedes and Tina have been going to visit her on the weekends sometimes. Do you think your dad is going to ask her to move in?”

“No. I talked to him about it. Despite the fact that Judy divorced her husband, she’s still a very traditional person. She will only move in if they get married at some point in the future. She actually found a house she likes and put an offer on it. It’s a 2-bedroom place, my dad said. He went to look at it with her. He said it’s been completely renovated. She should hear soon about whether the offer was accepted.”

“Well, I guess that is one less thing to be concerned about for a while.”

“Yeah. I don’t think my dad will rush in to getting married any time soon. Go on up and get ready. I’ll put the stuff in the dishwasher.”

“You cooked. I should clean up.”

“You worked all day.”

“I won’t argue anymore. I don’t like arguing with you. I’ll just say thank you and go get ready.” He kissed Dave. “Dinner was delicious. Thank you.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After the game, Burt approached Kurt and asked him to go home to talk with Carole while he took Dave, Finn, and Puck out for pizza. Kurt followed Carole back to the house.

He took his jacket off, laid it over the back of the sofa, and sat down.

“I want to understand your point of view,” she said.

“About what specifically?”

“About why you left.”

“I have spent the vast majority of my life being bullied and I am not okay with being bullied in my own home.”

“Please explain.”

“You moved in and within a very short time period wanted to impose your view of parenting on me without having any real knowledge about me as a person. Finn and I are nothing alike. Parenting the two of us by giving us the same rules to follow will not be ‘fair’. Taking away my futon and giving me a twin bed did not make our bedroom situation fair. It just took away something that was mine and replaced it with something I did not choose. To be honest, I figured your ulterior motive was to make my bed too small for David to sleep in it with me, thus preventing him from sleeping over.”

“I find that inappropriate.”

“You’re not my parent. What you deem inappropriate is irrelevant to me. I am not trying to be difficult, but your personal values and mine may not coincide at all. I don’t know you well enough to make an informed statement on that topic. This type of unilateral decision-making has not been a part of my childhood. My dad and I have discussed issues since I was very young. He explained everything I ever asked him about, not in childish terms, but with truthful answers. When my mom died, I became the homemaker after about a month of eating nothing but take out. I learned to cook, first things like casseroles that my dad could put in and out of the oven since I was too young to do it. I made soups. I moved on to harder things as I got older. I did all of the cooking and cleaning. My dad has never cleaned the bathrooms or swept or mopped. Those were things his mother never made him do. My mom took care of all of those things, just like it seems that you do.”

“Yes.”

“I am not saying that it’s a bad thing for a mother to care for her child, but in all honesty you have kept doing it for too long. Finn cannot do things that I could do when I was 10 years old. It’s learned helplessness. If he says, ‘but it never turns out right when I do it’ and you do it for him, you are teaching him that he can’t be trusted to do it for himself. No one is good at something the first time they do it. Everything takes practice, even if someone is naturally talented at something. He knows this. He goes to football practice and basketball practice even though he seems naturally good at both. Practice improves a skill.”

“I agree. But it is oftentimes much easier to do something than to argue with someone for twice as long as it would have taken to complete the task.”

“That’s true, but in the end, it’s ultimately harmful to the child to never learn to do adult tasks. I’m fully aware of how hard it is to get someone to learn to do something they don’t want to do. And I am not implying that you are a bad mother. I don’t know you well enough to make a statement one way or the other. You do seem to care for Finn, but he is coddled. If you want ‘fair’, then he needs to get a job. He needs to pay for his own car insurance, cell phone, and all of his food that he doesn’t eat at home at mealtimes. He needs to pay for extras like going to the movies and buying video games out of the money he earns. No allowance. He needs to do half of the chores and not the easy half like mowing the grass and taking out the trash. He needs to cook meals, wash dishes, clean the bathrooms, dust, sweep, and mop. He needs to do his own laundry and pick up after himself all the time. I had to rewash all of my clothes because of the damp mildewy smell they had from him showering without turning the vent on. He left damp towels lying around on the floor. It’s a basement. Care has to be taken to keep the dampness down as it is. He’s going to ruin the bathroom and closet if it keeps it up.”

“I’ll talk to him about that.”

“I have never needed a curfew or constant check-ins about my location because I don’t go out and to intentionally do stupid things. Sure I’ve made mistakes, but I’ve learned from them, but I’ve never given my dad a reason to doubt me. I don’t need a mommy. I know that sounds harsh, but it’s just true. I probably know more about keeping a house than you do because I had to learn it on my own from books and websites and magazines. I did research on the best types of products to use that were environmentally friendly and were low health hazards. My mom died from cancer. The last thing I want in this house is cancer-causing chemicals and things that damage my lungs when I use them to clean with. I’m a singer. I need my lungs in good shape.”

“So, you want me to change all of my cleaning products.”

“If you want me to live here.”

“And you were clearly unimpressed with the dinner I had made.”

“My dad is on a strict diet that was given to him by the doctor last fall. He is my only living relative that cares about me. I took the doctor’s restrictions seriously. He’s on heart medication already. High-calorie meals are not what a middle-aged man who needs to lose 20 pounds needs to eat for dinner every night. He needs the vegetables and things on the list the doctor gave him. He needs to walk 30 minutes a day. If he dies before I’m 18, my closest relatives will send me to conversion camp and make my life a living hell.”

“I don’t know what to say about that.”

“There isn’t anything to say about it. It’s just the truth. Back to why I felt bullied. I asked Finn not to touch my stuff, but someone touched everything in the basement that was mine. My clothes had been messed with. The bottles on my dresser. The things on my shelves. My futon. Everything. Finn is friends with people who have been horrible to me. And since he couldn’t keep his hands to himself, I have no hope of him keeping them from messing around with my stuff. The thought of them being near my stuff makes me feel sick. You have no idea how many of my things have been ruined by people that Finn is friends with. Most of them have quit bullying me because I am on the football team and Azimio threatened them, but that doesn’t mean that they like me or that they would respect my property when I’m not around. I thought Finn had changed. I thought we were on good terms and I’m sure Finn was just being nosy and that he did his best to put everything back exactly like it was, but that wasn’t my request. I asked him not to touch anything. When he can’t respect my wishes, that borders on harassment.”

“He should have left your stuff alone.”

“Yes, he should have. And when he broke something of mine, he should have called me or texted me and asked me what to do about it, but instead he tossed a $30 bottle of lotion that could have been put in a different bottle or container. I had a nearly empty bottle. I could have just switched the lids.”

“I’ll give you the money to replace it.”

“While I appreciate the offer, that won’t teach him to be honest or more careful. He needs to learn to work for what he wants. Being the top dog at school gets him what he wants with little effort. What has he done over spring break?”

“Nothing really. The basketball coach held one practice yesterday.”

“Do you know what I’ve done?”

“Burt said you were working.   He enjoys spending time with you at the shop.”

“Yeah, me too. I worked about 45 hours this week. And now that Cheerios and Glee Club are over, I’ll be able to work more hours during the week, so that I can be off on Saturdays without losing money.”

“How can I fix what’s gone wrong?”

“You can’t. There is not enough room in his house. I can’t share a room with Finn. He made that choice for us by disrespecting my wishes and by living like a pig. You may be willing to pick up after him, but I am not. If you want to spend time with me so that we can get to know each other better, that’s fine with me. I had a good time with you when we went out shopping. We can arrange a weekly time where we get together and talk. Or not. My dad cares about you and that’s what’s important to me. I have zero interest in going to college or living in Lima. As soon as I graduate, I’m moving on. So, in two years and about two months, my time in Lima will come to an end. My dad will be here for the next 30-40 years, as long as he takes care of himself. If you’re the one he can spend the rest of his life with and be happy, then I’m all for that whether the two of us get along well or not. I certainly won’t be a hindrance in your relationship with him. But if you’re expecting me and Finn to get along, Finn has to make a lot of changes that involve him growing up and being a decent person. He can start to grow up by picking his underwear up off the floor and hanging his towel up. And I’m never going to be close friends with someone who thinks that being gay is a communicable disease or that it’s disgusting.”

“You don’t mince words, do you?”

“Not usually. I try not to be harsh or mean, but this situation is difficult for me. All I’ve had for 8 years is my dad. It was the two of us against the world. And all of that disappeared when my dad took Finn to a major sporting event and didn’t even bother to invite me. He was watching a basketball game with Finn when the Cheerios were on national TV. He missed my TV debut because he was busy watching basketball with Finn. It’s hard not to be jealous. Finn is the fun son. Finn will never nag him about eating vegetables or going for a walk. Finn will always be interested in the things that interest my dad. Finn is easy. I’m hard. I know that. I know it was and is hard to be my parent. People call the house when he’s at work and tell me the world would be a better place without me. I had kept all of the horrible things people did and said to me from him until this fall. I wanted us to be close and that was never going to be possible unless I was honest with him. It was really hard, but he and Dave and Paul and I started doing things together and it made things better. Dad had a friend who also had a gay son. The only thing we have in common is fixing cars and a few types of movies. We were working on being closer, but he and Finn have everything in common and there’s no need to work hard to enjoy doing things with Finn. I can share my dad with you and with Finn, but I cannot share the only space that was mine. I just can’t. I thought I could, but I can’t. So, I’ll be at the Karofsky’s until I graduate or until the situation here is resolved. I won’t be treated like a child because that time has come and gone a long, long time ago.”

“I see that.”

“Maybe my dad’s method wasn’t right and maybe you’ve made things too easy for Finn. Maybe you’re both in the wrong. Maybe one of you is right and the other is wrong. Either way, what isn’t fair is to make Finn and me suddenly have to live under the same rules under the guise of fairness. That’s like telling a kid with training wheels that they have to ride a unicycle all of a sudden or giving a high school student first grade readers as their only books to read. My dad’s expectations are very, very high and my regulations are very, very low. You’ve done the opposite with Finn. You’ve had very low expectations, with a lot of regulations. I won’t live with high expectations and a high level of regulation. I make straight A’s. I take two languages and I’m a year ahead of Finn in math and science. I work hard in school. I work hard at the shop. I work hard at home. I earned my freedom. And you want to take it away because Finn hasn’t earned his yet. That’s not right.”

“I see your point, but I can’t back down on what I’ve asked for. It seems reasonable and acceptable to me for someone your age.”

“Then, we’re at an impasse. I will not back down either.”

“Does Mr. Karofsky not have these types of rules for Dave?”

“No. Paul and my dad spent a lot of time together last fall and this winter and they are both fine with the way things are, well were here, but still are there.”

“So he just lets the two of you come and go as you please? And sleep together?”

“Yes. Then again, he never has to ask or tell us to cook or clean or pick up after ourselves. Dave makes straight A’s too. And he’s a year ahead of me in math and science. You can ask Paul yourself if you want sometime. You’re welcome to come over. Anyway, it’s getting late and Dave and I have plans early tomorrow morning.”

“May I ask what?”

“Sure. We’re going to Columbus again.”

“Again?”

“We’ve gone three times.”

“By yourselves?

“Yes.”

“So, you drive to Columbus just the two of you, and do what?”

“We went shopping for winter clothes for Dave the first time. The second time, we went to out to dinner and then to the theater. The next day we went to meet the Gay Hockey Club members and skated for a while. After that we went to play laser tag and to the $1 movie theater to watch _Toy Story_ and _Toy Story 2_. The third time we went to a Blue Jackets game and to a PFLAG meeting.”

“PFLAG?”

“It’s a group for LGBTQ people and their families and friends.”

“I see.”

“I take it that you wouldn’t let Finn go to Columbus with just one other teenager.”

“Definitely not. What are you going to do there tomorrow?”

“We’re going to sell off some of my clothes I’ve outgrown. Maybe buy some new ones with the money I get. Then, we’re going to race go karts. After that, we’re going to a museum and back to the movies.”

“I see.”

“I really need to get going. If you want to talk more, we can do that sometime.” He stood and grabbed his jacket. “Goodnight.” He put it on and walked toward the door.

“Goodnight, Kurt.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt pulled into the garage and closed the garage door after he parked. He went upstairs to shower. Being in the house by himself was strange, but he wasn’t uncomfortable. He had spent so much time there for the past nearly six months that it felt like a second home.

Since Dave wasn’t home yet, he decided to use the time to make the filling for breakfast burritos so they could have a quick breakfast and sleep in just a little longer. Once he finished, he transferred the filling into a glass storage bowl and put it in the fridge.

He went up and showered. Afterwards, he pulled the ottoman out and started to read. Dave found him asleep with the book in his lap when he got home. He let him sleep while he took his shower and got ready for bed. When he came back into the room, he spoke gently so he wouldn’t startle Kurt. He woke up and stretched. He put his book on the side shelf and patted the space next to him. Dave sat down. Kurt curled his legs up and turned to the side and slid into Dave’s lap and wrapped his arms around his neck.

“Missed you.” He kissed him gently and tipped his head toward Dave and propped his forehead on Dave’s neck.

“The pizza place was crowded. It took forever for our pizzas to come out. How did your talk with Carole go?”

“Meh. She’s not going to change her mind about kids our age needing rules like curfews and not sleeping with our boyfriends. I mean, I do kind of understand because of Finn’s scare with being Quinn’s baby’s father, and then him sleeping with Santana just to get losing his virginity over with. I doubt she knows about that. I get the impression that she doesn’t know about the pregnancy scare either. But neither of us can get pregnant and we above the age of consent. It doesn’t matter. I’m not going back any time soon. I like it here with you.” Kurt’s voice was getting softer.

“Come on, Fancy. To bed with you.”

“M’kay.” Kurt got up and walked across the room, pulled the covers back and plopped into bed.

Dave pushed the ottoman back under the futon, turned the lights off, and got in bed with Kurt. He scooted up behind Kurt. “Are you too tired for goodnight kisses?”

“Never.” He rolled back a little and turned his head back toward Dave and kissed him. “More kisses in the morning.” He turned back over.

“I’ll hold you to that you know.”

“Mmm hmm.” Kurt was out again.

Dave kissed him on the back of the neck. “I love you so much.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“I have the smartest, sexiest boyfriend,” Dave said after he put his plate in the dishwasher.

“You are easily impressed if breakfast burritos make you this happy.”

“It’s not what it is, although it was delicious. It’s that you did it for me.” Dave pushed him back against the cabinet and Kurt slid up to sit on the counter. Dave stood between his knees and kissed him.

“Mmm. I think I have the sexiest boyfriend.” Kurt ran his hands down Dave’s shoulders and arms. “Pretty soon, it will be short-sleeve weather, and you won’t be hiding these beauties all the time.” Kurt leaned forward and reattached his lips to Dave’s. He moved one of his hands to the back of Dave’s neck and deepened the kiss. He wrapped his legs around Dave, keeping him as close as he could. They broke for air and Kurt kissed down Dave’s neck, and then propped his forehead on Dave’s shoulder, restraining himself from trying to stick his hands underneath Dave’s shirt to pull it off over his head. He focused and took a deep breath. “As amazing as this is, we did make plans for today.”

“We did. We can add more making out to tomorrow’s agenda.”

“Great idea.” He kissed back up Dave’s neck to his ear. “Let’s get going.”

“Your legs are wrapped around me. Your arms are wrapped around me. And you’re licking my ear. That is not encouraging me to get going. It’s making me want to hold you just a little tighter and carry you upstairs to the bed and make out with you.”

“Mmm. Good idea.”

“You’ve got three seconds to get your tongue off my ear before I follow through with my idea. My willpower is waning quickly. You’re so hot.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll behave.” He was breathing heavily. He unwrapped his legs so Dave could step back. “I really do want to go to Columbus with you. I’ve been looking forward to it all week.”

Dave stepped back and Kurt hopped down. They grabbed their jackets and headed out.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“So, what do you think of these?” Kurt turned in a circle, showing off a pair of dark wash skinny jeans that were less tapered at the ankle than he usually bought.

“I’ll tell you the same thing you told me. If you like them, get them.” He stepped closer. “You look hot all the time. Seriously. Trust me on this.”

“Okay. They fit.” He stepped even closer. “And from the look on your face, you like the way they show off my ass.”

Dave laughed and blushed.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” He closed the dressing room door.

By the time his offer was ready, Kurt had tried on the things that he liked and had chosen a couple of pairs of jeans. He took the remainder of the offer in cash and they left. When he put the unwanted items in the back, Kurt opened the box and looked inside.

“You know what?”

“What?”

“I bet that I can turn several of these pairs of pants that they didn’t want into shorts and I can at least get more use out of them without spending anymore money. I can save the money to buy more pants since most of mine are too short. I can save the money until next fall in case I grow more between now and then.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Kurt sorted through the box and pulled out the pairs that were the most likely candidates to be transformed. He closed the box back. “The rest won’t work or they’re too small period. Let’s drop this box off. We can rummage through the Goodwill quickly and see if we find anything amazing. It has been known to happen.”

Kurt pulled through the drive-thru drop off and then parked. They looked through the store. They stopped in the kitchenware area.

“Ooh, look. A silicone baking mat. I definitely need that.”

“There’s a silicone muffin pan too.”

“Grab that for sure.”

They didn’t find anything else in the kitchen section, but when they got to the end of the aisle, they were right in front of the bags.

“Is that what I think it is?” Kurt picked it up. “It is. It’s a backpack cooler. That would be really cool for picnics and stuff.”

“It’s only $4 and it’s really well insulated with foam and that metallic reflective fabric on the inside.” Dave took it out of Kurt’s hand. He tried all of the zippers and slipped it on to see if it fit. “Definitely a good find. Get it.”

“I agree.” Kurt put the two silicone baking items in the backpack. “Would you be okay with me getting a full-length mirror for the bathroom door? Or it can even go in the spare room with the sewing machine. It really does help me with altering and making clothes for myself.”

“Sure. No problem. Let’s see if they have one here. If not, we can grab one at Target or Wal-Mart.”

They didn’t end up finding one.

Dave switched the focus. “Let’s go look at the jackets. Maybe I can find one for less than $40.”

Kurt followed him to the other side of the store where they could see jackets hanging along the outer wall. “I’m going to look down this aisle at the jeans.”

Dave started trying on jackets. “What do you think of this one?”

“Are you a Reds fan?”

“I’m not NOT a Reds fan.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means that I don’t really care one way or another because I don’t really care about baseball. But it’s a nice jacket and the logo isn’t huge. I like the hood.”

“Oh, my God.”

“What?”

“I have to go try these on. I’ll be right back.” Kurt came out of the dressing room in a pair of jeans.

“Those look good.”

“I agree. They’re mine.” Kurt looked at Dave instead of the mirror he was standing in front of. “Oh, I like that jacket.”

“I think I like it better than the Reds jacket.” He walked closer so he could look in the mirror. He turned and looked at the back too. “Yeah. This one is better. This would go with a lot of my stuff. I need some new short-sleeved shirts too.”

“I’m going to change back.” Kurt started looking through the t-shirts to see what he could find that Dave might like. He found a few short-sleeved henleys and one with a hood. He took them over to where Dave was looking through the button-ups.

“What’s so exciting about those jeans?”

“They’re True Religion jeans and they’re like $200 new and these in great shape. Do you like any of these?” he asked, holding up the short-sleeved shirts he had picked out.

Dave looked through them. “Yeah, but not the one with the hood.”

Kurt put the hooded one back. Dave had found a few small plaid patterned shirts and a couple with other small patterns and took them as well as the shirts that Kurt had found into the dressing room. A few minutes later, he came out with one shirt on a hanger and put it with the shirts to be put away.

“I’m good. Is there anything else we want to look at?”

“Just the belts.” Kurt went to the end of the row and picked out a few. “I think this one would fit you. What do you think?”

Dave took it and wrapped it around his waist. Kurt went over to the mirror and tried the ones on in his hand. Kurt found two he liked. Dave took the one Kurt had found.

“Ready?”

“I am.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“That was SOOO much fun! Now I see the thrill in being a race car driver, even though we could only go like 30mph,” Kurt said.

“You’re just … so cutthroat.”

Kurt preened at his words. “Thank you.”

“I’m not sure it was a compliment.”

“It was to me. Everyone sees me as this docile, wanna-be girl. I like being seen as a tough guy sometimes.”

“Well, I don’t think you’re girly. Although, I happen to like your borderline obsession with tight pants.” Dave’s hand slid down from Kurt’s waist a bit. “Definitely improves my view on a daily basis.”

Kurt’s eye’s flashed.

“What? If you didn’t want me to ogle your ass, you’d wear baggy jeans.”

Kurt moved his hand to his hip and covered Dave’s hand and slid it back up to where it had been.

Dave laughed. “So, it’s like that, is it?” Dave kissed him right below his ear.

“What’s gotten into you?”

“We’re in a parking lot. No one is looking. Even if they were, I don’t care, unless you want me to stop. Just tell me how much is too much. I wasn’t groping you or anything.”

“I know. It’s actually fine. It’s just every time you do something in public for the first time, it startles me a bit. I’m fine. Better than fine. The guy I love thinks I’m hot. What’s not to like about that?”

Dave smiled and bit the corner of his lower lip.

“What’s that about?”

“What? Oh, it’s just that it’s just hearing you say that I’m the guy you love so matter-of-factly makes my stomach do flips still.”

“Well, it’s true. I love you. Are you ready to get some lunch?”

“Definitely.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After they had finished their Columbus excursions for the day, saw a movie, and picked up a mirror at a Target, they stopped and got a couple of sandwiches on the way back to Lima.

“The Craft Museum was pretty cool,” Dave said. “I didn’t really know what to expect, but we were looking for something interesting and free since we paid to race this morning.”

“I liked it too. Seeing those tapestries and seeing the process of how their made makes me realize just how much time artisans spent making those large tapestries that we see photos of in our world history book. I know how long it takes to sew a shirt or pants, but I’m using an electric sewing machine. It just makes those tapestries that much more amazing.”

“We can come back and go to some of the other museums. I figured they’d all be overrun with people today since it’s spring break week.”

“I’m sure you’re right. I want to go to COSI. The website makes it look really cool.”

“And we are totally going to that _Lord of the Rings_ trilogy all-day movie event. I grabbed a flyer so we can get tickets. I love the books.”

“I want to read all three books again before we go. I’ve never seen the movies.”

“I have all of the books.”

“Perfect.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“You two are just in time for dinner. I ordered Chinese for everyone,” Paul said as they came in. “Judy’s here.”

Dave said, “Alright. We’ll be right in as soon as we take this stuff upstairs and wash up.”

They sat down at the places that had been set for them.

“Judy, this is Kurt Hummel. I’m not sure if you’ve met before.”

“We haven’t. It’s nice to meet you, Kurt.”

“You too. How’s Quinn?”

“Physically, she’s fine. She’s gone back to the girls’ home. She’s decided to finish out the school year there, but she’ll be home by mid-April. The school is very flexible. She decided that she’d rather finish out where she’s been all semester than to try to come back and start mid-term here. She can double-down on her work and finish sooner. The new house will be ready by then, so it’s good timing.”

“That’s great.”

“It will be an adjustment. She’s changed. It’s sort of like going to college. She’s a lot more independent.”

“Having something major like that happen does change people. I know that firsthand. Well, both of us do.”

Judy nodded. “I knew your mother, not well because she was a few years younger, but everyone who knew her liked her. She was really sweet. No one could figure out why she took up with your dad.”

Kurt laughed. “Was he that bad?”

“Well, he was the stereotypical jock. Maybe a cross between Noah Puckerman and Finn Hudson. Your dad was a charmer, so less crude than Noah, but just as much of a ladies man.”

“I see,” Kurt laughed. “I have a hard time seeing my flannel-wearing dad as a ladies man, but I’ll take your word for it.”

“I was a grade ahead of Paul, so your dad was a freshman when I was a senior, but he was already making his way to the top socially. Kat was bookish. My sister was in the same grade. She was the valedictorian.”

“That’s just so weird and explains so much. I’m confused. Is Kat your sister?”

“No. Your mother. She was valedictorian of their class. My sister Anne was in the same grade with her.”

“I’ve never heard anyone call my mother Kat.”

“Oh, that’s what Anne called her.”

“Katherine Elizabeth. My dad called her Lizzie.”

“I see. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful by calling her the wrong name.”

“It’s fine. Maybe only my dad called her Lizzie. Talking about her upsets him, so I don’t bring it up. So, if everyone you know called her Kat, it’s fine for you to use that name.”

Paul interjected, “Did you two have fun in Columbus?”

“We did,” Dave answered. “The go karts were so much fun. And the small museum we went to was pretty cool. And of course _Men in Black_ is always funny. The discount movie theater is having an all-day _Lord of the Rings_ trilogy showing in June. We’re getting tickets. Kurt’s never seen the movies.”

“That will be cool. You’ve only seen them on our TV screen. In a movie theater, it will be so much better. I saw them in the theater, but you were just 8 when the first one came out and I thought they were a bit too violent and intense.”

“We did some summer shopping too. I found a nice spring jacket with a hood. I’ll show you later. I got some shirts too.”

“I sold off the clothes I’ve outgrown and I got a few pairs of pants that are actually long enough, so I can quit wearing my pants tucked into my boots if I want to.”

Paul laughed. “So, it wasn’t just a fashion statement.”

“Nope. It was me waiting the growth spurt out as long as I could before buying new pants. I’m turning some of the ones that are too short into shorts for the summer.”

“You sew?” Judy asked.

“I do.”

“I have this skirt that I love, but the side seam opened up at the pocket near the zipper. I am a terrible seamstress. Do you think you could look at it? I’d pay you to fix it, if it’s salvageable.”

“Sure. Just bring it over some time. If I’m not here, just put it on one of the chairs in here and I’ll see it.”

“That would be great. It’s dumb to love an article of clothing so much, but I hope you can fix it.”

“I know the feeling. I’ll see what I can do. Flattering skirts with pockets are an endangered species, so I do understand.”

Judy practically snorted. “That is so true. If you’re up for the challenge, I’d pay you to make me more skirts exactly like it. You can let me know after you look at it. If you think you can do it, maybe you can come out with me and show me suitable fabric choices.”

“Sure.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Paul knocked on the open door. Kurt and Dave stepped out of the closet where they were putting clothes away.

“Looks good in here. Those shelves you were working on came out nice.”

“Thanks.”

“I like the lantern lights.”

“Step this way.” Dave pulled the new shirts out. “These are what I bought.” He pointed to his desk chair. “That’s the jacket.”

Paul went over to the chair. “That’s a nice Columbia jacket. It should be durable.”

“The mirror is nice.”

“Kurt needed it for his sewing. He said he needs to be able to see the back of things when he’s working on making clothes or altering them for himself.”

“Makes sense. What are your plans for tomorrow?”

Kurt answered. “Just reading and working on our song for Glee Club. Maybe some preliminary work on the pants-to-shorts project, but there’s no hurry. It’s not warm enough to wear shorts yet.”

“Do you two want to go out to the lake?”

Dave looked at Kurt, who nodded and said, “Sure. When are you leaving?”

“Not until lunch. It’s still too cold for my taste to go in the morning, but it’s supposed to be nice and sunny tomorrow afternoon.”

“Sounds relaxing.”

“Well, I’ll leave you to finish putting your laundry away.”

“Hey, Dad.”

“Yeah?”

“Puck is supposed to come over to work on the song with us. What about asking him to go to the lake?”

“Sure.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Hey, Noah. Come on in. You can go on in the living room. Dave and Kurt are already in there.”

“Thanks.”

“Here, let me take your jacket.” Paul reached out and took and hung it in the closet. “Maybe you’ll be in town the next we go out on the boat.”

“Maybe. I go to Columbus to visit my nana and sister some weekends. It sounds fun though.”

“It’s relaxing. When it turns warmer, we can fish and swim. Have fun practicing.” Paul turned and walked off toward the den.

“Hey, Puck. Thanks for taking the time to come over to practice with us.”

“Yeah. No problem.” He pulled his guitar out and tuned it a bit. “You ready?”

He played the intro and Kurt and Dave began to sing. They sang through it twice more before they decided it was good enough.

“You two sound good together. I listened to some of their other songs on YouTube. Their harmonies are really interesting.”

“I agree,” Kurt said.

Dave asked, “You want to go up and play some _Halo_?”

“Yeah, sure.” He put his guitar back in its case and leaned it against the wall near the coat closet and followed Kurt and Dave upstairs.

“Nice set up,” Puck said. “I see you’ve got your futon here.”

“Yeah, I bought it from my dad. He was going to sell it to offset the cost of the twin bed, so now it’s officially mine.”

“You don’t want to play?”

“Nah. Not right now. I’ve got a sewing project to work on.”

An hour later, Puck and Dave were completely engrossed in their game when Kurt caught Dave’s eye and he looked up at Kurt. Puck nudged him without looking up.

“Dude, you’re gonna die.”

Kurt laughed and Dave looked back at the screen, but it was too late. Puck looked up and saw Kurt.

“Nice legs, dude. I see why Dave bit the dust.” Puck laughed at him. “You’re a lot more muscular than people think. I saw what you can press and lift. All that yoga and resistance stuff works for you obviously. But Dave’s gonna flunk 10th grade if you wear those to school.”

Kurt rolled his eyes.

Dave was turning red.

“Damn. You got it bad.”

“I know.”

“I got some new jeans for school. These are mostly to wear around the house and for the summer.”

“Did you come in here for some reason other than to make Dave die and us lose?”

“Oh, yeah. Dinner will be done in 10 minutes.”

Puck shook his head. “We’ll be there.”

Kurt walked back down to the spare room and went back to sewing.

“It’s actually sweet, you know. He’s a lot different than I thought. I’m glad you two are happy.”

“Thanks.”

“And guy or not, he’s got a great ass.”

“Shut up.” Dave’s blush returned.

“What? I’m right and you know it.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday after school, the Glee Club members went into the choir room as they had been directed to by a text from Rachel the previous evening to find that Miss Pillsbury had brought in a cake for them. They opted to give their performances first.

“So, who wants to go first?” Mr. Schue asked.

Rachel raised her hand. Tina and Mercedes went next. Puck sang an Elvis song and did a great job. No one else raised their hands, so Kurt stood up. Dave and Puck followed him down to the front.

“We’re going to sing an Everly Brothers song from 1958.”

_Darlin’, you can count on me,_  
_‘Til the sun dries up the sea._  
_Until then I’ll always be devoted to you._

_I’ll be yours through endless time._  
_I’ll adore your charms sublime._  
_Guess by now you know that I’m devoted to you._

_I’ll never hurt you. I’ll never lie._  
_I’ll never be untrue._  
_I’ll never give you reason to cry._  
_I’d be unhappy if you were blue._

_Through the years my love will grow._  
_Like a river, it will flow._  
_It can’t die because I’m so devoted to you._

“I’ve never heard that song before,” Mr. Schue said. “The harmonies are really beautiful.”

“They really are,” Rachel agreed. “I’ve never heard it before either.”

“They had a lot of popular songs that topped the charts during that time period,” Kurt said.

“Well done. I think that song really suited both of your voices, even though you have very different qualities to your voices.”

The three of them sat back down.

“Before we cut the cake and eat it, I have just one announcement. We’ll be meeting on Monday afternoons for the rest of the semester. Since we don’t have any more competitions to practice for, I’m looking into perhaps performing at some local places just to keep us in practice.”

They all went and picked up a slice of cake and sat back down and ate it. Once they had finished, Kurt and Dave thanked Miss Pillsbury and headed out to the parking lot. It didn’t take Azimio and Mercedes long to catch up.

“Dude, please just make all the cakes from now on. You’ve ruined me. That was a tragic misuse of flour and sugar.”

Kurt and Mercedes laughed at him.

“Is that your way of asking me to make you something, Azimio?”

“Naw, I got better manners than that. Kurt, my friend and the amazing boyfriend of my very best friend, will you please to me the grand favor of making a real fucking cake?”

“You almost made it, Z,” Dave teased.

“I’ll make you a cake.”

“YES!”

By then Tina and Artie had caught up.

“Why’s Azimio so happy?” Tina asked.

“Kurt’s making him a cake,” Mercedes said.

“It’s not going to be just for him, right?” Artie asked. “We all get to eat this cake too, don’t we?”

“Fine, fine. I’ll share.”

“The longer we stand around in the parking lot, the longer it is before there’s a cake to eat,” Kurt said.


	14. Chapter 14

Artie wheeled himself into the dining room behind everyone else. “Thanks.”

“Oh, you’re welcome. I didn’t realize you couldn’t get into the kitchen until Kurt got me to help him move the table. It’s no big deal. You can roll up to the end and we can all still fit even with it against the wall like that.”

“Well, I appreciate it. So, what kind of cake is Kurt making us?”

“Well, I have to see what there is. Give me a minute.” Kurt looked in the fridge and the cabinets. “How about an angel food cake with strawberries or blueberries?”

“Mmm. Sounds good,” Tina said.

“Works for me,” Azimio said.

Dave went upstairs and brought some games down. Tina and Mercedes played Battleship and Artie and Azimio played Risk. Dave spent his time in the kitchen helping or hindering Kurt, depending on who was asked.

Kurt leaned back against Dave’s chest and shoulder to give him more access to his neck. He spoke very quietly. “How is this helping?”

“It makes the cake baking experience more relaxing,” Dave offered.

“I see. One of them could walk in here.”

“I don’t care. Do you?”

“Other than being teased, not really. You’ve just never been so bold when other people are around.”

Dave continued to kiss Kurt’s neck. “I love you and they know. If they don’t want to see it, then they can walk out of the room. It’s not like we’re making them watch or doing anything risqué.”

Kurt turned enough to kiss Dave. “I love you too. Can you start slicing the strawberries up?”

“Sure.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Once the other four had finished their games, they sat around playing Uno until the cake was ready to eat. Kurt sliced it up and gave each person a slice and put the strawberries and blueberries on the table. There was a partial can of whipped cream in the fridge that he put out to add a bit on top for fun.

“Dude, I totally miss the football team sitting together and you bringing us treats every Monday. That totally rocked.”

“Then I guess you have something to look forward to in the fall,” Kurt teased.

“You are just mean sometimes,” Azimio teased back.

Kurt rolled his eyes. “I think you meant to say that I am just awesomely fabulous sometimes.”

“You wish.”

“I hate to be a spoilsport, but I have to be home by dinner and I have schoolwork to do tonight,” Artie said.

“Yeah, me too on the homework,” Tina said. “We have this big English paper due the end of the week.”

“Alright then, let’s get moving.” He walked over to Mercedes and leaned over and gave her a hug. “I see you guys tomorrow, if you’re gone when I get back.”

“Thanks for the cake, dude.”

Kurt smiled.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When Kurt came back, Judy was at the house, sitting at the island in the kitchen talking to Dave and Paul while they cooked. Kurt followed their voices.

“Hello, Kurt. I brought the skirt with me. It’s in on the back of one of the chairs in the dining room. That’s actually why I dropped by, but Paul convinced me to stay for dinner.”

“I’ll take a look at the skirt in a minute. I made an angel food cake this afternoon. Would you like a piece? There are strawberries or blueberries to go on top.”

“You bake too?”

“I do.”

“Paul told me that you taught both him and Dave how to cook.”

Kurt smiled. “I did. They’re both good students. Dave branched out beyond my basic lessons and turned himself into quite the chef in his own right.”

Dave blushed.

“Well, what they’re making smells delicious. I’ll have a slice of the cake after we eat. Thank you for offering.”

“You’re welcome. I’m going to go take a look at your skirt.” Kurt grabbed it and took it upstairs where he had his spotlight and sewing machine in one of the guest rooms. He was gone for about 15 minutes and came back down. “There. Good as new.”

“Really? That didn’t take long.”

“The seam holding the zipper in place broke. I fixed it. And as for making more like it, I’m pretty sure that I can, but you’d have to be willing to leave this one here long enough for me to make a pattern off of it. Or you can bring it back whenever I can keep it for a few hours.”

“Oh, go ahead and keep it. I haven’t worn it in a month. Another few days or whatever won’t be a problem. And if you can make more, then I’ll be thrilled. I have other skirts, but none that I like as much as that one.”

“Well, I’ve heard that skirts that both fit well AND have pockets are endangered species.”

Judy laughed. “It’s true.”

“We could go out and look at fabric on Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday. I work Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and I have to do my homework after I get off.”

“I’ll look and see, but this Friday would probably work.”

“Just let me know. I can give you my cell number and you can text me.”

“Oh, my phone’s in the other room. Here, give me your phone and I’ll text myself and you can just store the number and I’ll have yours.” She took his phone when he handed it to her. “I’ll let you know.”

Kurt took his phone back. “That’s fine. I’ll set the table.”

“No, need, Kurt, but thanks for offering,” Paul said. “Rather than pass everything around the table, I’m going to put everything on the island and we can go around buffet style,” Paul said.

Judy took a plate and they all followed her around the island making their own fajitas. They took their plates into the dining room and sat down.

“Before I met Paul, the last person who cooked for me was my mother when I was a child. I have to say that I’m quite enjoying the occasional home-cooked meals that I didn’t have to cook myself. I don’t even know how to make fajitas. I’ve only ever had them at restaurants, but these are fantastic. Actually better than the ones I had a restaurant.”

Paul smiled. “I’m glad you’re enjoying them. They’re really not hard to make. They’re one of the first things that Kurt taught us.”

“I may have to hire you to teach Quinn when she comes back. She and I butt heads a lot. It might be easier to get someone else to teach her.”

Kurt laughed. “I could try, but no promises. She and I were never in the same social group. Being head Cheerio as a freshman put her at the apex of social standing from the get-go and I’m about as low down the social scale as you can get, just one other person is lower than me.”

“There’s a lot of things that seem really important when you’re 15 or 16 that really just aren’t. And unfortunately, some people keep believing that they are, but others eventually get over themselves. It took a swift kick in the head for me to get my head on straight. Having your 15-year old get pregnant and finding out that your supposedly perfect husband is cheating on you will do that to a person. Hopefully, there are a few people who are decent to you. God knows I wouldn’t have been at that age. I wouldn’t have been 6 months ago. Some of us are really slow.”

“Once I joined Glee, I met a few decent people, most of them not much different from me socially. Dave is the one that was at the top, like Quinn.”

Dave said, “I’m happier at the bottom. I’ve learned that social standing isn’t synonymous for being happy.”

“Quinn has too, but we’ll see how long it sticks once she’s back at McKinley next fall. It’s easy to say that it’s stupid when you’re at the bottom, but when you get offered a place back at the top, it becomes a lot harder to resist the privileges that social status offers you. She’s already started working out and she’s going to go back to ballet when she comes back home. She’s hoping to get back on the Cheerios.”

“I loved ballet when I was little, but as I got a older, the moms were not nice. I was young, not deaf. I eventually quit going. There’s a ballet club at school, but I don’t go. I’m not strong enough to be partnered with a girl. The other guys that go are lifters on the Cheerios. They have upper body strength that I just don’t have. I might look into classes in Columbus or Toledo or something. Dave could go skate while I dance. Maybe twice a month or something.”

The conversation went from there on to different topics. Once they had all finished eating, Paul and Judy went into the den to watch a movie. Kurt and Dave packed up the leftovers and cleaned the kitchen up.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave came out of the bathroom to find Kurt staring off into space, so deep in thought that he didn’t even notice that Dave was in the room, which was unusual. Dave tossed his clothes into the hamper and shut and locked the bedroom door. The door latching got Kurt’s attention.

“What’s gotten you so deep in thought?”

“I was thinking about what we were talking about at dinner after I got an anonymous text when you were in the shower.”

“What anonymous text?”

“Here.” He handed Dave his phone.

Dave clicked on the text.

\--Cheerio or not your still a freak!

He clicked on the link that followed. It took him to a short video clip of Sue’s brief interview with some sports journalist after the Cheerios won Nationals.

“Well, whoever sent it needs to pay more attention in English class.”

Kurt laughed.

“What did this make you think about?”

“How despite the fact that what I did helped us win Nationals, it doesn’t matter. At the time, it was loud and I couldn’t really hear what was being said. I wasn’t wearing a headset like Coach Sue was. I didn’t realize what she had said. She grabbed me and pulled me back, but now that I’ve heard what she said, I’m angry and hurt. Rather than saying something about my skill or my hard work or something, she said I was depressed and freakish. I joined Cheerios to possibly find an outlet that would finally give me a place to perform and show off, for lack of a better word – to show off my talent and be recognized. But instead, I was called freakish by the coach. She may have used my freakishness to her advantage, but being a national champion didn’t change my status as a freak. Every person who saw that just had their opinions reinforced – that male cheerleaders who aren’t lifters are weirdos. And I was just thinking how incredibly unfair gender bias is. Women face it all the time, but guys who have interests outside the acceptable ones face it as well. I still just can’t figure out what having a vagina or a penis has to do with liking to do ballet or being good at fixing cars or sewing or knitting, like that kid you met. How does a body part that doesn’t get used for any of those activities affect a person’s ability to enjoy said activity? Why does it bother someone else that I like ballet? Why does it bother anyone if a girl wants to be a mechanic or an engineer or whatever?”

“It shouldn’t. If you want to go to ballet classes, I’m fine with that, not that you need my permission, but I will defend your choice to anyone who hassles you.”

“Thank you. I know you love me. I’m quitting Cheerios. I wasn’t sure how I could make it work anyway because it takes up so much time, even if I don’t cheer again until after football season. I need to work more and I’d rather not work Saturdays. I’ll have to cheer at the final home game Wednesday night and then I’m resigning. I will have fulfilled what I agreed to and that will be that.”

“Okay. I’ll go with you when you tell her.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Thursday morning, Kurt managed to sneak downstairs without waking Dave up. He made French toast and turkey sausages to surprise Dave. He managed to get the tray upstairs, shut and lock the door, and carry the tray to the bed without waking him up.

Kurt spoke quietly. “Dave?”

“Hmm?” He reached out to the empty bed and opened his eyes. “What aren’t you in bed with me?”

“I made us breakfast. Sit up and we can eat together.”

Dave slid up in the bed and Kurt put the tray down and sat down facing him. Dave ate without saying much because he was still barely awake.

“Thank you. That was really good.”

Kurt slid the tray to his side of the bed and crawled forward and kissed Dave. Six months ago, you saved me from a potentially dangerous situation and then you made me eggs and gave me a banana, painkillers, and Gatorade to attempt to help me get over a killer hangover. And it’s been six months of you being the sweetest guy ever. Thank you. You risked everything, and it didn’t turn out like a fairy tale, but I love you so much. I’m glad that you took a chance on us.”

“I’m glad you gave me a chance. So glad. I love you too.” He kissed Kurt. “Let me take this down and we can get ready for school so we can be there early for you to be able to talk to Coach Sylvester before school starts.”

“Ugh. Definitely not looking forward to that.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Come in.”

Kurt opened the door. Dave followed him inside and closed the door behind him.

Coach Sue looked up from her desk. “Why are you here?”

“I’ve come to turn in my uniform and backpack.”

“Why would you do that?”

“I’ve fulfilled my part of the contract and I don’t wish to continue with the Cheerios.” He placed the backpack with his uniforms inside it on one of the chairs in front of Coach Sue’s desk. He turned to exit.

“Why?”

“I wasn’t depressed. I was already a freak, but I was the local freak. You told the whole country I was a freak. Anyone who searches my name from now until I die will be able to find that news clip. Instead of praising my hard work or skill or just ignoring the question and bragging about your leadership or something, you chose to use the few seconds you had to heap more insults on me for the whole world to see. You put me in my place and killed my hope of leaving the bullying behind when I escape this place. Now, it gets to follow me forever. You win. Congratulations.”

He didn’t give her time to say anything. He turned and walked out. Dave followed behind and closed the door behind them. He took Kurt’s hand and they walked out to the courtyard for a few minutes before first period started.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Hey, bud. You’re early today.”

“Yeah, I’ll be coming in at 3:00 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays now. I don’t have Glee on those days and no more Cheerios practice. I’ve been contributing to the grocery cost at Paul and David’s and I need the extra hours. I can’t just be a mooch.”

“I see. That’s very mature of you. I wanted to talk to you about you moving back home.”

“Has Carole changed her mind about the rules?”

“No.”

“Then there’s nothing to talk about.”

“It feels wrong – you not living at the house. We used to eat dinner together every night. I don’t get to talk to you. I have no idea what’s going on in your life.”

“My life is pretty straightforward. School, schoolwork, working here, chores, and personal hygiene. And in my free time, some sewing, singing, movies, video games, and reading. We can talk while we fix cars, like we are now. To be honest, you and I hadn’t spent a lot of time together, other than dinner, until you started spending time with Paul. Other than working on cars, we have no common interests. When I was home, I was down in my room doing the same things I just mentioned. I wasn’t doing anything with you. We just occupied space in the same house. That’s what happens as kids get older, Dad. They go their own way most of the time. You’re my dad and I will always love you, but being my dad didn’t automatically make you love 40s and 50s musicals. Being your son didn’t automatically make me like watching televised sports. Other than eating dinner with Paul, I don’t really do anything with him either. Occasionally, we’ll watch some action movie that appeals to all of us like we did when you two were still spending time together. And you’re still welcome to come over for dinner and a movie whenever it fits into your schedule.”

“I want you to come over to the house for dinner on Fridays, starting tomorrow.”

“As long as Dave is welcome and I get to cook it, then I’m okay with that. And it has to be an early dinner”

“Fine. Although I would appreciate it if you came alone.”

“I am not going to be less gay and less bothersome for Finn’s sake. If he doesn’t want to see me be gay then he can eat in the basement as far as I’m concerned.”

“Kurt…”

“Dad, why should I be the accommodating one? If he were dating a girl, would you exclude her?”

“Yes. It’s supposed to be a family dinner.”

“I’ve been dating Dave for a lot longer than you’ve been dating Carole. Why is he less of a family member than she is? You probably haven’t thought about it at all, but, as of today, Dave and I have been together for 6 months. You were treating him like family before Carole and Finn came along.”

Burt didn’t say anything.

“You and Paul were becoming close friends. The four of us did stuff together, but now you have Finn and Carole. And that’s fine. I don’t begrudge that you’ve found someone to love. Not at all. I told Carole that already. But I do miss the four of us doing things together. Anyway, I’ll come and I’ll cook. I’ll need some money to go shopping. Finn eats enough for three people. And I have to leave at 7:00. I already have plans that I’m not going to cancel at the last minute.”

“Plans?”

“Yeah. I’m going out fabric shopping with Judy. She wants to pay me to make her some skirts, but she doesn’t know what fabric is suitable and she needs to pick the pattern or color.”

“I see. So, you’re going out and spending time with the woman Paul is dating, but you don’t spend any time with Carole.”

“I told Carole that I would spend time with her whenever she wanted. All she has to do is call or text me. I offered. She hasn’t taken me up on the offer.”

Burt took his wallet out and gave Kurt money to buy food for dinner. “Fine. Get what you need and we’ll eat at 6:00.”

“That works for me.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next afternoon, Kurt and Dave went grocery shopping and bought all of the ingredients Kurt needed to make dinner. When they got to the Hummel’s, they each grabbed a sack of groceries and carried them up to the door, which Kurt unlocked. They headed straight to the kitchen. Finn looked over at them from the sofa when they came through the living room.

“What are you two doing here?”

“Nice greeting, Finn,” Dave said.

“Whatever. Why are you here?”

“Dad asked me to come to dinner, so here I am. I’m making dinner.”

Finn went back to watching TV.

Kurt and Dave worked together to get everything started so that it would all be ready to eat at 6:00. Burt came in around 5:30 and sat down with Finn on the sofa and watched TV with him. They heard Carole come in, but didn’t see her.

At 6:00, everything was on the table, ready to eat. Everyone went in the dining room and sat down.

“What is this stuff?” were the first words out of Finn’s mouth.

Kurt pointed to the baking dish with chicken in it. “That’s Chicken Angelo. The bowl next to it is a veggie rice pilaf. It has a combination of riced cauliflower and long grain rice. The square dish has broccoli in it. The other dish has baked pears with cinnamon, nutmeg, and crushed pecans. I made enough chicken for you to have two pieces.” Kurt served put some of the rice pilaf on a plate and put one of the Chicken Angelo pieces on top of it. He put a large serving of broccoli next to them on the plate and handed it to Dave.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Kurt started over and made a similar plate for himself with smaller portions, taking the smallest chicken breast for himself. He sat back down. “Help yourselves.”

Dave sliced a bite of chicken and put it in his mouth, followed by the broccoli.

“You actually LIKE this weird stuff?” Finn asked.

“Finn…” Carole chastised him slightly.

“No, seriously, Mom. He comes in makes weird food, like that tuna crude or whatever it was and he expects us to eat it? I don’t like whatever that stuff is.”

“You didn’t even try it. You can’t know that you don’t like it if you don’t taste it,” Kurt said like Finn was four instead of 16.

“No.”

“Whatever. Your loss.”

By then, Carole and Burt had served themselves and had started to eat.

Carole said, “Finn, just try the chicken. I’m sure you’ll like it.”

“Fine.” He put a piece on his plate and took a small bite. “It’s not horrible. Can I at least have some bread so I can make a sandwich out of it?”

“Sure.”

He went into the kitchen and brought back a loaf of bread and the mayonnaise and mustard. He put mayonnaise on one side, mustard on the other and made a chicken sandwich out of it. He wolfed it down in a few bites. He pulled out two more slices of bread and did the same thing with a second piece of chicken. Once he finished it, he got up like he was leaving.

“Sit down, Finn,” Burt said in a no-nonsense tone. “No one gets up until we’ve all finished eating.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I am. Have a seat.”

“Can I at least go get some chips or something else to eat while I sit here?”

“Sure,” Carole answered.

Finn came back with a bag of Doritos and sat and crunched down the whole bag while everyone else ate. Once they finished, Finn left. A couple of minutes later, they heard the door to the basement slam.

“I’m sorry about that,” Carole said.

“You can’t apologize for someone else’s bad behavior. Although, if you had at least TOLD him that I was making dinner, he might have at least had time to come to terms with it ahead of time. I’m not sure why you think that surprising Finn with news he won’t like somehow improves his reaction. I would venture a guess that you’ve done this for a long time though. Rather than listen to him complain for however long between when you told him and when the event was happening, you decided it was easier to just not tell him and then surprise him with it. That doesn’t seem to have worked out well in the end.”

“Kurt, it’s not your place to talk to Carole that way.”

“Dad, the two of us have been on equal footing for years. I’m not accustomed to being treated like a child. If you wish me to take that role with Carole, I can’t, but I can be quiet and not share what I think. I’m sorry that no one enjoyed the dinner I made. I can take the leftovers with me.”

“Hey, bud, I never said I didn’t like it.”

“If you want to take it for lunch one day next week, I’ll put the leftovers in the freezer.”

“That’s fine.”

Kurt got up and started to carry the bowls back into the kitchen. Dave grabbed the rest. Dave washed dishes while Kurt packed the leftover food up. Kurt joined him once he had finished. Burt and Carole remained in the dining room talking quietly. Kurt went in to wipe down the table once the dishes were done.

“Hey, bud, when you finish, come back in here.”

Kurt nodded and went back in after he looked to see that everything was done. He sat down. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Next Friday, do you think you could make something that everyone would enjoy?”

“I thought I did this week. Broccoli is pretty normal vegetable and I thought everyone liked rice and pears. The chicken was just lightly battered chicken breasts covered with a slice of cheese and mushrooms, baked in chicken broth. I didn’t make any unusual sauces or mix things together or use any unusual spices. I honestly thought this was a really great menu. You’ll have to send me a list of either all of the foods I have to avoid or a list of all of the acceptable foods. That or I can just pop a frozen pizza in the oven for Finn while I make other food for the rest of us. Just let me know. But grown men eat other things besides pizza rolls and Doritos. Maybe Finn should learn to like some adult food.”

“Kurt…”

“Dad, just stop. His behavior was childish. He wouldn’t even try what I made. We were greeted with ‘What are the two of you doing here?’ It just went downhill from there. I probably could have made chili and he would have turned his nose up at it on principal.”

Burt didn’t say anything.

“Is there anything else because I don’t want to be late.”

“No, that’s it, I guess.”

“Then I’ll see you Tuesday at work. I’ll be there as soon as school gets out.”

Burt nodded with a weak smile that didn’t make it to his eyes.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Their schedules became second nature since there were no more surprise or last-minute rehearsals or practices. Mr. Schue did manage to arrange for them to sing a couple of places, but he quit trying after they didn’t work out very well.

Kurt and Dave had a standing double- or triple-date with Artie and Tina and/or Azimio and Mercedes every Monday after school. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, Kurt went to the shop as soon as school got out and he worked until 7:00. Dave headed to Findlay on those days and trained for three hours a day. Fridays, they had an early dinner at the Hummel’s, which was over by 7:00. Occasionally, they stayed for a movie or to play board games with Burt and Carole. Finn didn’t stick around for either. On the weekends, they’d go out on the boat with Paul and Judy or Paul and Puck sometimes. Other times, they’d go to Columbus or Toledo for the day and be tourists.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Two months flew by quickly and it was the week of finals. It was the final Glee Club meeting of the year. Brittany was super excited and flitting around the room passing out invitations written in multi-colored crayon. Kurt took his when offered and read it. “Brittany’s First Annual Glee Pool Party Extravaganza” was written around the edges of the invitation so he had to rotate it to read it. Computer printed in the center, it said:

Date: May 29th

Time: Noon

Bring food to share.

Hot dogs and hamburgers provided

Wear swimsuits and bring a towel.

After she handed them all out, she stood by the piano. “I want all of you to come. It will be lots of fun. I even got a floating turtle for Artie so he can get in the pool. My dad filled the pool last weekend and put the solar cover on, so it should be warm enough to swim in by the party.” She went back to her seat.

Mr. Schue hadn’t given them a specific assignment. Anyone who wanted to sing got up and sang. Once no one else wanted to sing, he dismissed them.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Artie and Tina were in the backseat of the Navigator, as usual. Mercedes and Azimio were in his truck. They all headed to the theater to watch _Iron Man 2_. After the movie, Kurt dropped Artie and Tina off, while Mercedes and Azimio hit the grocery store. He and Dave headed to back home to meet up with Mercedes and Azimio.

Kurt and Mercedes sat in the dining room while Dave and Azimio cooked dinner. Kurt gave Mercedes a manicure and did her nails.

Azimio came in the room to talk to them for a few minutes. “Dude, you always gotta make the rest of us look bad, don’t ya?”

Kurt furled his eyebrows and looked up at Azimio.

“Is there something you can’t do?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you’re like a damn renaissance man. You kick ass at football, you cheer, you sing, you dance, you cook and bake, you’re good at school, and you’re sitting there making my girl smile like she won the damn lottery.”

Kurt laughed. “Only you, Azimio. Only you. Do you want me to teach you how to do Mercedes’ nails? I can do that.”

“Whatever, dude. Dave’s just damn lucky there’s no other guys willing to come out or they’d be fighting him over you.”

Kurt looked at him like he was crazy.

“What? The guys hate you in theory, supposedly because you’re gay, but most of them hated you because you’re just so damn good at everything and you make it look like it’s easy. You were always telling them what losers they were. They’re jealous. All the girls like you, even if it’s just in secret. And it pisses the guys off. ‘What’s that fairy got that I don’t?’ is something I’ve heard too many times to count.”

Dave popped into the room. “A bigger dick?”

Kurt turned bright red.

“Too much information, dude. TMI.”

Mercedes burst out laughing.

“Oh, my God, Dave. Shut up.”

“You make the girls realize that guys don’t have to be disgusting pigs who don’t know how to do anything for themselves. You raise the bar on what guys can be like.”

Kurt laughed, and then stopped and looked up at Azimio. “Wait, you’re serious?”

“Well, some of them are just homophobic jackasses through and through. But the others, like Puck just hated you because you were just … I don’t know how to explain it. If they picked on you for being gay, they could keep their low standards of behavior and whatever because none of the other guys would want to be like you and get the same treatment. But the girls WANT the other guys to be like you. So, like, you make the guys realize what they could be and they feel guilty because they know they could be better people, but they like being lazy. They just don’t want called out on it.”

Kurt still looked confused. “So, they try to keep everyone thinking that I’m basically a girl so that they don’t have to change their disgusting behavior?”

“Something like that. I mean, if you teach me how to do Mercedes’ nails and I do them and they look good and she goes bragging to the other girls at school what a good job I did, it will make the other guys look bad. So, they’ll come down on me for being ‘whipped’ or something to call me out – to make my behavior look unacceptable for a guy. That way they don’t have to be better people.”

“So, all I’ve got to do is keep teaching the football players how to do things that girls will find attractive and at some point the tide will turn and the other guys will want to imitate them instead of harass them?”

“Pretty much. I already got a bunch of jocks to take Home Ec. The tide can be turned if the people at the top work hard at it. I muscle some guys into doing it and their girlfriends ooh and ahh over how amazing they are for making spaghetti or whatever and the rest of the losers think, ‘Damn, I’m gonna have to learn to cook or the girl I like will go for one of those jocks that can cook instead of me.’”

“I say let’s go for it then. I’ll teach you how to do Mercedes nails so they look awesome and we can start a revolution.”

Azimio laughed.

Dave came back in. “Everything’s done. Come on.”

They got up and followed him in.

“Okay, so this is my version of Chipotle. Kurt and I went there with Burt and we liked it so we worked on getting the right flavors. Put everything you want in this part of the tortilla and then, I’ll show you how to roll it to keep everything from falling out while you eat it.”

Dave demonstrated how to do it after Mercedes and Azimio had piled their fillings into the oversized tortilla. Once they finished, they took their burritos to the table and sat down to eat. Paul came in about the same time.

“Yours is on the counter, Dad.”

“Excellent. It smells great.” He grabbed his and brought it back out to the table and sat down with them. “So, what are you four up to?”

Mercedes said, “Azimio and Kurt are plotting how to subtly stage a coup at McKinley.”

“A coup? Do tell.”

They all talked and laughed about what they had been discussing before Paul got home.

“Azimio does have a point though. All the jocks had to do before was be jocks. If some of the jocks learn new behaviors that make them more attractive to the girls, it might work. In high school, it’s usually the girls who have to put in all of the effort to be chosen by a popular guy, but if you manage to turn the tables and make some of the guys move up the scale of desirability, it could work.”

“Never in my weirdest dreams did I see myself as the leader of a coup to get straight jocks to behave like gentlemen and treat women with respect.”

Dave laughed. “You’re the secret leader. If the other jocks catch on too soon, it will backfire. Azimio has to look like he’s doing it for Mercedes and then she has to make him seem super attractive for these new behaviors. You know, spread it around about how hot it is to watch him pay such close attention to her and how sensual it is for him to sit and hold her hands and play with her fingers. You know, she’s going to have to talk it up where there are other guys around to ‘accidentally’ overhear her gushing to the other girls about how hot the whole experience is.”

Kurt was just shaking his head. “You’re going to sell being hygienic, well-behaved, and sweet as a way for guys to get laid.”

Azimio nodded. “Basically. I mean most of those Cheerios are already putting out for the guys, but you know, if the guys become less dickish, it’s likely to make the girls more interested in satisfying the guys. Seems like a win/win for everyone.”

Paul sat there and shook his head. “You all are something else. What are everyone’s plans for the summer?”

“Tina’s got a cool job working at an Asian Culture and Language Camp as a counselor,” Kurt said.

“Sounds fun.”

“I hope she has fun. She said Mike’s working there too.”

Azimio answered. “I’m joining the landscape crew for my brother’s construction company again, like last summer. It’s hot and it’s hard work, but for me it’s better than asking ‘Do you want fries with that?’ or some other kind of customer service work. I like working on my own better. I get a list of stuff I’m supposed to plant and a drawing of the area and I just do it.”

“You seemed to like it fairly well last summer, except the heat.”

“Yeah, but it pays good, so it alright.”

“What about you, Mercedes?”

“Well, I’m going to be in Indianapolis babysitting my cousins. My uncle lost his job and got another one, but it’s not as good and they can’t afford the cost of camp or a full-time babysitter for all three of their kids. So, they’re going pay me, but not like a regular job would pay, but sometimes you do what you’ve got to do. At least I’ll get to go do some cool stuff with them. They’re not babies. They’re 12, 10, and 9. So, I don’t have to do diapers or car seats and strollers or stuff like that. And they already had a zoo membership and a museum pass from before he lost his good job. And we can go to the Y. It’ll be fun I think. And I can do whatever in the evenings and on the weekends – watch my favorite shows and maybe go shopping at one of their cool malls once.”

Dave said, “Artie told us that he’s running some D&D campaigns online like usual. He signed up to take some class online on how to make iPhone apps. He mentioned _Halo, COD_ , and something called _Warhammer_. He got a new video camera and said he’s going to work on his editing skills.”

Kurt said, “Before he told us about that online class, I didn’t even know that regular people could make iPhone apps. It sounded really cool. And you already know, I’m working the shop.”

Dave said, “You already know that I’m working as a math and science tutor at the library half-days in the afternoon and I’m training for hockey in the mornings.”

“Sounds everyone will be pretty busy.”

They looked around and each other and nodded.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They spent the rest of the week reviewing and studying for their finals. Thursday was their last day of school.

Kurt stopped by the store and bought what he needed for Friday Night Family Dinner as Burt called it, and then he and Dave went to the Hummel’s. They got there to find Finn, Puck, and a couple of other jocks playing video games in the living room.

Puck looked over when he heard the door open. “Hey, Kurt. Dave.”

Dave gave him an up nod response.

“Hey, Puck,” Kurt answered back.

Kurt texted Burt and asked if he was supposed to make dinner for everyone that was at the house. Burt replied back that only Puck was staying for dinner.

Kurt and Dave got started on the meal. Kurt had learned not to make any vegetables and to make the meal of mostly starch if he wanted Finn to actually eat what he served. But he had also started making half the meal something that he liked and was on Burt’s list from the doctor.

Dave shredded cheese while Kurt browned the meat. Once the meat was ready, Dave prepped the larger glass pan with regular lasagna and Kurt prepped a smaller glass pan with lasagna made with whole-wheat noodles, low-fat cheese, spinach, and ground white-meat turkey. Once the pans of lasagna were in the oven, they cut up a cantaloupe and a honeydew.

“I’ll be back in time to take the lasagna out. I’m going to go out back.”

“Without me?”

“I’d love for you to come, but you can also stay here and play video games with the guys. I just need some air.”

“I’ll come with you.”

Kurt smiled. He sent Burt a text letting him know that dinner was in the oven. They went out in the backyard through the garage. Kurt grabbed two of the brown towels he kept by the garage door and took them with him. The yard had a 6-foot privacy fence. He led Dave around the side of the house that faced the neighbor’s garage. Kurt knew that no one outside the yard could see them in that spot.

He put both of the towels down parallel to the house on the ground side by side. He sat down on the end of one and lay back so his head was still on the towel. Dave did the same thing. Kurt rolled onto his side and faced Dave. He turned over too. Kurt reached out and ran his fingertips along Dave’s jaw line. Dave wrapped his hand around Kurt’s wrist and brought his fingers to his lips and kissed them.

“I know those guys annoy you.”

“Puck, no. The other two, yeah. Mostly because they don’t acknowledge my existence. I’m still invisible to them. It’s just annoying. I’m glad they’re not staying for dinner. Tina and Mercedes are going to be gone most of the summer. Maybe we could see if Puck wants to hang out with us more. Azimio and Artie will still be around. We could still go to the movies and out to do things from time to time.”

“It’s fine with me. You set your phone timer, right?”

“I did.”

“If you scoot closer, you can use my arm for a pillow and we can snuggle until the alarm goes off.”

Kurt leaned forward and kissed Dave gently. Dave moved to lie flat on his back and extended his arm. Kurt scooted closer and lay on his side. Dave ran his fingers along Kurt’s arm before he slipped his hand under it and held Kurt. Kurt wrapped his hand around Dave’s and brought it to his mouth and kissed his knuckles.

Kurt said, “So, we got _Behemoth_ , _The Necromancer_ , _Fang_ , and _The Seven Towers_ , which I am going to read first because I love the dragons books Patricia Wrede wrote. They were really funny and I’m in the mood for funny tonight. I hope it’s as funny as her other books I’ve read. Which one are you going to start with?”

“Umm. I think _The Necromancer_ or maybe _Fang_. I’ll have to look at them. I’m going to pick the easiest to read first. I’m in the mood for something fast and exciting.”

They continued talking about the new books they bought and their trip to the bookstore earlier that day.

“You two aren’t making out,” Puck said, making them both jump. “You’re talking about reading books on the first day of summer break. You two are the biggest nerds I know.”

“Who said we were making out?”

“Finn was looking for you because Burt told him to, but he came in and told me you were out here making out. Clearly Finn doesn’t know what making out looks like. He’s seen enough porn I figured he’d know by now.”

Kurt blushed and Dave laughed.

Puck rolled his eyes. “Anyway, Burt and Carole are here.”

“The food’s not quite done yet, but we can come in.”

Kurt grabbed the towels and they followed Puck inside through the patio door in the dining room. Kurt dropped towels in the washer and set it to an extra small, quick cycle and started it. They washed their hands and Puck grabbed the plates to set the table. Kurt followed behind him with silverware and napkins.

“Do you keep kosher?”

“Nah, why?”

“I was going to offer you the turkey lasagna if you did.”

“Oh. Thanks for checking. If it’s kosher, how about you give me the recipe and I can wow my nana with it the next time I go visit?”

“Sure. I can text it to you or you can just copy it down after we eat.”

“I’ll copy it. I don’t like having my phone laying out when I cook.”

“Makes sense.”

Kurt pulled the pans out of the oven when it beeped. Dave put glasses of water on the table for everyone. When he came back in he grabbed some heat pads for the table. Kurt brought in the pans of lasagna. Puck grabbed two serving spatulas. Burt and Carole came in and sat down. Kurt started cutting the smaller lasagna and served Burt first. He served Dave next, and then himself.

“You can take that piece to work for lunch one day.”

“I’ll do that. Looks good.”

Kurt left the other pan of lasagna for the other three to serve themselves. Carole took a regular sized portion and so did Puck. Finn took two servings. Before long he had helped himself to two more, leaving just two servings left in the pan. No one really talked, despite the fact that Burt insisted that it was a time for them to share what was going on in their lives.

Kurt tried to get the ball rolling. “So, are you two going to Brittany’s party tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Puck said. “She has a sweet pool.”

Finn said, “I just remembered. I need some money to get snacks before I go.”

“I’ll give you some money later, Finn.” Carole said.

“Please tell me you’re bringing an awesome cake or something,” Puck said.

“I hadn’t actually decided yet. Is there something you’d like?”

“That chocolate cake with the cherries in it was the best cake I’ve ever had. How about one of those?”

“Sure.”

“Yes!”

“Are you bringing cupcakes?”

“Of course. I’m making lemon ones with lemon glaze.”

“Now, that sounds good,” Kurt said. “I haven’t had lemon anything in a while.”

“What about you, Dave?”

“I’m making these mini baked spicy bean and cheese empanadas that I made up. I should come up with a name. If you like spicy Tex-Mex type food, you’ll like them.”

“Sounds interesting. Make sure I get one before you put them out and they vanish. That sounds like something that would be kosher too and that my sister would think is cool, especially if she can help make some part of it.”

“I’ll write down the recipe and bring it tomorrow.”

“Thanks, dude.”

Dave nodded.

Everyone had finished eating and Kurt stood to start collecting everything. Puck got up to help him. Dave grabbed the left over food and followed them into the kitchen. Dave carried the cut up fruit back and took a stack of small bowls with him. He sat them on the table.

“Fruit? We’re having fruit for dessert?”

Dave turned around and walked back out without answering. Kurt had packed up the extra piece of spinach lasagna for Burt and put it in the freezer.

“That was really good, by the way,” Puck said.

“I’m glad you liked it. Would you like the two extra pieces?”

“Really?”

“Sure. Carole doesn’t eat leftovers. She just buys something at work. And Finn has enough pizza rolls and frozen pizzas in there to last a whole week.” Kurt packed it up in a quart Ziploc bag. “I’ll put it in the fridge. Actually, you pick a place to put it, so you know where it is when you leave.” He handed the bag to Puck. “There’s fruit in there if you want it.”

“I’ll get some in a few minutes. I’ll load the dishwasher.”

“Oh, thanks.” Kurt moved to the sink and started to dry what Dave had washed.

Once they were done, the three of them went back in and sat down. They each took a bowl of fruit and started to eat.

“You got something against melons, Finn?”

“They’re gross.”

“Fine. More for me.” Puck took another scoop.

Kurt had finally had it. “Look, I followed all of the rules I was given. Nowhere did the list say that Finn doesn’t like melons. Update the list, please.”

“Can I get up?”

“Sure, Finn. Go ahead.”

Once he had left the room, Kurt said, “I don’t know why we keep doing this. He clearly has no interest in me being here. He doesn’t talk when I’m here. I don’t know how I’m supposed to get to know him better when he’s passive/aggressive. If you two want to eat with me, you might as well just let him go out or eat in his room. Or if you want, I’ll just start buying a pack of hot dogs and buns and let him eat all 8 for dinner. I don’t get why you don’t make him try new foods. He’s acting like a child – a spoiled child.”

“I hated being forced to eat food I didn’t like as a child,” Carole said.

“I didn’t say he had to eat it if he didn’t like it, but he won’t even try it. It takes some people numerous times of trying a new food before they will accept it. And if you aren’t going to make him, then I’ll probably just do what I just said. I’ll make something for the four of us and then make him hot dogs or two boxes of mac and cheese or something.” Kurt got up and started to collect the dishes.

“I don’t live here, but I do wonder why Finn doesn’t have to help with the clean up.”

Carole responded, “He’s broken way too many plates and things to be trusted with them.”

“So, he’s a klutz and that gets him out of dish duty? Wow, he does have you snowed doesn’t he?”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“He washed dishes all semester in Home Ec. We had to clean up our own stuff and we got graded on whether the dishes were clean. He got a B for the semester. He just has the wool pulled over your eyes. You let him get away with acting helpless. He knows the name of all of the cooking utensils and knows what they’re for. He knows how to use the normal kitchen appliances like a mixer and blender. He can cook like 15 different dishes. He’s just lazy. He liked the idea of taking the class because after the first week of learning all of that stuff and taking a quiz, we spent all of our time cooking and we got to eat the food. But he’s just flat out tricking you. Oh, and he likes cantaloupe and honeydew just fine. I’ve seen him eat it. He was just protesting in hopes you’d offer him cookies or something else he wanted more.”

“How about this? Dad, you and I talk at the shop all the time. What if I just go out to dinner with Carole once a week and we get to know each other? That’s certainly not happening here while we sit mostly in silence every week. This is our 11th Friday Night Family Dinner, as you like to call it. Finn is clearly unhappy about it.”

Puck said, “He’s just being a baby. I’ll go sit with him. But just so you know, he’s behaving like this on purpose. If Kurt and Carole go out to dinner together and you cancel these dinners, then Finn wins. He knows that one of you will eventually give in and not make him participate.”

Carole took a deep breath. “I’ll talk to him.”

“Did he find a summer job yet?”

“He says no one is hiring, that he’s looked.”

Puck said, “Not true. He hasn’t really looked. He wants to work at the shop with Burt, like me and Kurt, but I told him that we don’t have time to train him with Rob graduating and leaving and Kurt moving to days to cover people’s vacations.”

Burt said, “I’ll talk to him, but I’m not taking him on at the shop until he’s responsible around here. I can’t trust him with pieces of equipment that cost a small fortune if he can’t do something as simple as load a dishwasher.”

Kurt got up to collect the bowls. He put them in the dishwasher and put the lid on the bowl with the fruit and put it in the fridge. He stepped back in the dining room. “We’re going to head out. I need to stop by the grocery store again to get cherries to make the cake for tomorrow.”

“Alright. We’ll talk to him and see if we can get to the bottom of this.”

Kurt nodded.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Burt, Carole, and Puck went into the living room and sat down on the sofa. Carole grabbed the remote and turned the Tivo on and the TV off.

“I was watching that.”

“Not anymore you’re not,” Carole said. “What is with you when Kurt’s here?”

“Nothing.”

“We can sit here all night, but you’re not leaving this room until I get some answers.”

“He just gets on my nerves.”

Puck butted in. “How? He cooks to your wishes, he does all of the dishes and the clean up. How on earth can that get on your nerves? He’s super nice to you. I mean I’d kick your ass if you ran me out of my own house.”

“I didn’t make us move in here.”

“But you made it so he wouldn’t stay home,” Puck continued. “You trashed his room, made a mess of everything, and went through all of his stuff. That certainly doesn’t say, ‘Thanks for welcoming me into your house, painting my half of the room my favorite color, and giving up half your space for me.’”

Carole said, “Okay, so you’re still mad that we moved in?”

“Not really. I like this house just fine. I like Burt, you know that.”

“Then what is your issue with Kurt?”

“He’s just so prissy and stuck up. He does everything right and makes me feel like a Lima Loser. He got MVP. He was the stupid kicker. Kickers don’t get MVP. Then he won Nationals for the Cheerios. He’s better at everything than me and it sucks. He comes in here bringing his boyfriend and they make fancy dinners and they’re all over each other.”

Puck laughed. “You came in and told me they were out in the side yard making out. I went out there and they were lying on towels talking about reading new books. I’m not sure what you think ‘all over each other’ and ‘making out’ entails, but from my experience it actually requires some kind of skin on skin contact – kissing, grinding, licking.”

“Shut up, Puck.”

“Hey, I was in here the whole time they were cooking. As far as I saw, they never touched each other besides regular stuff like handing each other stuff. No kissing, no hugging, nothing. That’s not ‘all over each other’. You know what I think? You’re a big homophobe. You act like you’re all accepting, but you’re not. You want people to think you’re a nice guy, but you’re really just a whiny baby. Why didn’t you help with the dishes after we ate? I’ve SEEN you wash plenty of dishes. You did just fine in class.”

“Shut up.”

“I won’t. You’re not who you pretend to be. Just admit it. You don’t like Kurt because he’s gay.”

“It’s gross.”

“To you. No one’s asking you to kiss Karofsky or any other guy. Kurt doesn’t treat you like you’re disgusting for kissing girls.”

“That’s because guys are supposed to kiss girls.”

“I think I’d rather go spend the night at the Karofsky’s.” He pulled his phone out and texted Kurt. A few minutes later he got a response. He got up and went downstairs and grabbed his backpack. He grabbed the lasagna from the fridge. “Thanks for dinner, Carole. See ya tomorrow, dude. Get your act together.” He left.

“Why don’t you head on downstairs for the evening?”

“It’s not even 7:30 yet.”

“I’ll be down in a minute,” Carole said.

Finn huffed, but got up and went down to his room.

Burt said, “I’m going for a walk, and maybe out to – I don’t know where. Somewhere not here for a while.”

Carole nodded and headed for the basement.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Carole turned Finn’s desk chair towards his bed and sat down in it.

“Everything Kurt said about you that first night was true wasn’t it? You pretend that you can’t do things so that you can be lazy.”

Finn looked away. “I don’t want to do all of that stuff. Washing dishes, cleaning stuff – it all takes a ton of time. Plus, girls do that stuff.”

“You’re jealous of Kurt.”

“No, I’m not. I do NOT want to be like Kurt. No one likes him. Everyone likes me. You want me to be like him. No freaking way. Look at Burt. You say he’s a good man and he doesn’t do any of those things you want to make me do now that you’ve seen Kurt do them. He’s a girl in a guy’s body or something. He paints the girls’ nails and does their hair. I bet he has more beauty products than the girls.”

“Being jealous doesn’t necessarily mean that you want to be like someone. It can also mean that you want what they have. You wanted to be MVP.”

“I should have been MVP. I lost Quinn. I lost Rachel to Jesse. I lost my house. My rep has taken a hit so many times this year. Azimio and Puck are edging me out of being top dog. Now Kurt just went and stole Puck from me.”

“He didn’t steal Puck. You were being a jerk. Plain and simple. He needed somewhere to spend the night and we said he could stay here and then you made him not want to stay so he went to Paul’s. He’s not bothered by Kurt and Dave together. Obviously, he knew he was welcome, so he went there. You two have been best friends for years, but Puck’s growing up and you’re refusing to.”

“I don’t need to learn to do all that cleaning stuff. I only took that cooking class because a bunch of the other jocks were doing it and I thought it would be fun to have a class where would could hang out and talk and eat and not have to take tests or study. I’d never take the time to make anything we made in class when I can just buy the same thing already made and stick it in the microwave.”

Carole took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You will learn to do all of the things it takes to run a household and keep it clean. You can still go to the pool party tomorrow, but that’s the last free pass. If you don’t start to pull your own weight around here, HERE is the only place you’ll be all summer. I won’t pay your insurance on your truck or give you gas money if you continue to behave the way you are.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Having a truck is a privilege. You’re not paying anything toward your own expenses. Do you realize that not only did Kurt move out, he is paying for his own food while living at the Karofsky’s? That’s why he picked up more hours at the shop.”

“Burt’s just paying him. It’s not like a real job.”

“Have you ever even been down at the shop when Kurt’s there?”

“No.”

“What do you think he does?”

“I don’t know. Work at the cash register?”

Carole closed her eyes and willed herself to speak calmly. “He is a mechanic. He repairs cars.”

“So, like if I work at the shop, he’ll be what? My boss?”

“Maybe not your boss, but definitely up at the top. Besides Cassius and Burt, Kurt’s got the most certifications.”

“Whatever.”

“No, not whatever. Burt doesn’t just give Kurt cash for doing menial tasks at the shop. Kurt is an actual employee. He’s no different than anyone else who works there. If Kurt quit, Burt would have to hire another mechanic. It’s not like Burt’s just giving Kurt money for hanging out there. And it costs Burt’s shop the same to hire Kurt or another person with the same qualifications. Kurt’s salary gets paid out of the shop revenue. He earns a certain amount per hour. He pays federal, state, and local taxes, and social security tax as well. So, for example, if someone gets a job that pays $10 an hour and they work 40 hours a week, their gross pay is $400, but those four taxes I mentioned are deducted before they get their paycheck. The tax rate varies from 10% to 30% or something. The higher your income, the higher the tax rate. So, for someone making $10 an hour, it’s probably somewhere around 12%. So, of the $400 gross income, the person’s net income would be?”

“I’m not good at math.”

“They’d get about $350.”

“That sucks.”

“It is what it is. I like paved roads, street lamps, fire departments, and the fact that I don’t have to pay tuition to send you to school, amongst a long list of things that taxes pay for.”

“So, how much does Kurt make working at the shop?”

“Give me a second.” She pulled her phone out and used the calculator app. “I would guess that after he pays his expenses, that he’s making $50 a week.”

“So, he’s making like $4 an hour, if he’s only getting $50 a week.”

“Yes and no. He’s not making $4 an hour. It’s just that he’s paying his own expenses like his phone, insurance, gas, and now groceries. So, once he pays for those things, he has about $50 a week left over. That’s from my rough estimate. It might actually be $40 or $60, but it’s in that range. And that’s the money he uses to go out to the movies, buy new clothes or shoes, and buy those skin care products that he likes. So, working the extra hours this summer is really the only way for him to save up money because during the school year, he’s really only working enough hours to pay for his regular stuff.”

“That’s not much. That’s like the cost of one video game. I’d have to work as many hours as he does to get buy one video game?”

“You’d have to work about 8-10 hours to cover the cost of one video game, depending on the game. And that would be in addition to covering your expenses first. Getting a job won’t mean you getting to just blow all of the money. It means you taking over the role of providing for yourself.”

“That sucks.”

“People who work full time making minimum wage earn about $1000 a month. They have to pay for a place to live, utilities like electricity and water, food, health insurance, insurance for their vehicle, gas for their vehicle, phone service, cable, and internet.”

“That sounds like more than $1000 worth of stuff.”

“It is. That’s why people get roommates or do without some of that stuff like cable and internet. The cheapest apartment around here is probably $400. You eat at least $400 in food. Electricity is close to $100 on a small place. Water might be included with an apartment.”

“That’s already $900.”

“Yep. So, that leaves you with no ability to pay your insurance on your truck or put gas in it to drive it. And you’d have no health insurance, phone, cable, or internet.”

“How am I supposed to live like that?”

“That’s why you have to learn to do something besides work a job that pays minimum wage or you have to work more than 40 hours a week.”

“God, being an adult sucks.”

“I’m serious, Finn. Change your attitude. You’re going to be an adult in 15 months. You’ll graduate from high school in two years. Figure out what you want to do with your life and start making good choices. And start learning to take care of yourself. How likely do you think it is that you’re going to find a teen girl willing to marry you right after you graduate, that will move in with you and do all of the household stuff for you? I’d say it’s pretty slim. You mentioned losing Quinn and Rachel this year. Do either of them know how to do all of those things?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think either one of them can cook.”

“Well, even if you don’t know, do you think either one of them wants to take on the job of doing all of the household chores and the cooking while they go to college or work full time themselves?”

“Probably not.”

“Times have changed. Things have changed. Women can’t just stay home and be full-time homemakers their whole lives. A single job doesn’t pay enough to support two people, let alone a family. It wouldn’t be fair or reasonable for you and your wife to both work full time and then come home and expect her to do all the household work too. I know you’ve grown up seeing that be the case in our family, bu that’s because there wasn’t another adult. I had no choice but to do everything because you were a child, but you’re not a child anymore. Sunday we’re starting with your training. If you balk and refuse to learn, you’ll start to lose privileges.”

Finn flopped back on his bed, staring at the ceiling. “God, this sucks. I wish you had just never met Burt.”

“Get over yourself, Finn. You were going to have to learn this stuff sometime unless you had planned on living with me forever. And even then, I would have made you help once you weren’t in school. And the next Kurt comes over here, I expect to see you treat him decently. He’s never done anything to you as far as I know. Is there something you haven’t told me? We’re having a conversation. Sit up.”

Finn sat back up. “He used to have a crush on me.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Finn, every girl at that school, plus all of the closeted gay guys have probably had a crush on you. You’re top dog. You’re the quarterback. You’re cute. Did he ever do anything forward, like touch you or something?”

“No, gross.”

“So, he what, winked at you?”

“No.”

“I’m at a loss, Finn. Fill me in.”

“He just used to look across the room at me and smile. He offered to help me with my schoolwork.”

“So, he had a crush on you – you think. But he never did anything except be nice and smile?”

“It just creeped me out. I don’t want gay guys to think I’m cute.”

“Why does it creep you out?”

“Why can’t he just pick a girl and be normal? Why does he choose to be so weird?”

“Finn, do you think people choose to be gay?”

“Well, yeah I guess. That’s what everyone says. That he could just choose to go out with girls and be straight and act normal.”

Carole rolled her eyes. “He could choose to go out with a girl and act normal. He could probably go out with someone in the Celibacy Club who is not interested in a sexual relationship. That way he wouldn’t feel pressured to have sex with someone he doesn’t find attractive. He could date that girl for the next two years, but it wouldn’t make him any less gay. Think about this. Don’t argue, just listen. Let’s say that you and Puck start dating. You go to the movies, you go out to dinner, you go bowling, you know – dates. Does that make you gay?”

“I already do those things with Puck and I’m not gay.”

“Would kissing Puck make you gay?”

“That’s gross and no. Nothing would make me gay.”

“Dating a girl will not make Kurt straight. Kissing a girl or even having sex with a girl will not make Kurt straight. People are born straight, gay, bisexual, asexual, and probably other things I can’t think of right now.”

“What’s asexual?”

“They don’t feel sexual attraction.”

“Like at all?”

“Right.”

“How is that possible?”

“That’s a different discussion that we aren’t having right now. Right now, you need to understand that nothing will make Kurt straight. He is attracted to men. You are attracted to women. Would you want someone to act like you’re disgusting because you were attracted to Quinn? Or Rachel? Or those girls in the porn you like to watch?”

“Mom!”

“I’m not stupid, Finn. Answer my question.”

“No. Girls are hot.”

“Kurt thinks guys are hot.”

“Gross.”

“Knock it off, Finn. Do you know what I’ve learned tonight?”

“What?”

“That you are every bit the self-centered, spoiled child that Kurt said you were all those months ago. Enough is enough. First off, you’ll be writing a paper next week and every week that you don’t have a job. I’ll assign you a new topic each week. If you don’t write it, there will be consequences.”

“My life sucks.”

“No. Your self-important, self-centered attitude sucks. Sunday, we start.” She went back upstairs.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

By the time Puck got to the Karofsky’s, Kurt had already put his cake in the oven. Dave opened the door and let him in. He dropped his bag by the closet and took his baking supplies to the kitchen. After asking for some baking powder and a few eggs, he got busy making his cupcakes. Kurt and Dave hung around in the kitchen talking to him. They sat at the island and stayed out of his way.

“So, why the sudden exodus?”

“Got fed up with his whiny, helpless act. I love Carole. I do. She’s like that cool aunt. Cares about you, but not enough to meddle, but would help you if you asked. But Finn is just ridiculous. It’s time to move past 12. Oh, I got good news today. I got that job I applied for at the Y. You know, to clean the pools and the locker rooms and stuff. It’s 5:00am to 2:00. It’s minimum wage, but money’s money and since I don’t have to watch my sister, I can work pretty much all the time.”

“I’m glad you got it. I know how much you were hoping to get it,” Kurt said.

“Yeah, and they gave me Monday through Friday like I asked, so I can still go to Columbus on the weekends.”

“Perfect.”

“I’m pretty much going to be working and sleeping, but I need the money. I’m saving up to get a place in Columbus as soon as we graduate. I need some new clothes though. At least, I need some more work pants. Where did your dad get the ones he gave me?”

“He has more that size that he’s never going to fit into again. Just let me get them from him. There’s no point in you paying for new clothes when he has perfectly good ones taking up space in his closet.”

“That’d be great, but I don’t want to be a mooch. At least let me pay him something for them.”

“Let me see what I find. I’d mark them like $5 a pair at a yard sale if they were perfect. Less if they aren’t. You can pay what I’d sell them for, if you’d feel better about it.”

“Yeah. I would. I have to wear black at the Y though and the polo the employees wear. So, I need to get some black shorts or pants.”

“We can go out tomorrow after the party if you want.”

“Sure, but I’m still planning to go to Columbus before dinner.”

“That’s fine. I don’t really see me staying at a pool party for more than a couple of hours.”

The oven timer went off and Kurt pulled the cake out. Puck put the cupcakes in and reset the timer.

“You know what? I’ll go back over to the house and go through dad’s old clothes. I’ll bring them back and you can look through them before we go shopping. You and Dave can play _Halo_ or _COD_ for a while.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt pulled up in the driveway and walked to the front door. It was the first time he felt like maybe he should knock. Instead, he texted Burt and let him know he was there, and then waited a couple of minutes to unlock the door and go in. Burt and Carole were sitting on the sofa talking.

“Hey, bud. Did you forget something?”

“No. I just wanted to ask you something. You still have work clothes in your closet that don’t fit. Is it okay for me to take them and sell them? I’ll give you whatever I can get for them. There doesn’t seem to be much sense in leaving them in your closet indefinitely.”

“Sure. I’ll go up with you. Grab a box or a bag from the garage and come on up.”

Kurt grabbed a couple of paper grocery sacks and went upstairs. Burt was looking through the closet and pulled out what no longer fit. There were more pairs of navy Dickies and some older chambray shirts from the shop that he had removed the name patches from.

“Can you order Puck four more name patches? I can sew them on for him. That way, he’s not having to run to the laundromat all the time.”

“Is that what you’re doing with these?”

“Yeah, I’m going to sell them to Puck for what I’d sell them at a yard sale for. With him working every day now, he needs more uniforms or he’ll have to go to the laundromat several times a week.”

“That’s fine. Why don’t you just take all of the stuff that doesn’t fit me, except the things I’m partial to that Lizzie got me.” Burt pulled out a stack of clothes from the top shelf. “He might not like any of them, but if he doesn’t just donate them somewhere. They’re not doing anyone any good on a shelf in my closet.”

“I’m sorry I’m causing so much trouble. I don’t want you to be mad at me. I want you to be happy AND me to be happy. I liked how things were before you started dating Carole and I’m having a hard time accepting that I can’t have that anymore. I miss you and Paul and me and Dave going out on the boat and watching movies and the four of us having dinner together. And we were going to do the camping this spring just the four of us and we were going to do the big camping trip with the dads again, but you don’t seem to have time for it anymore. Hopefully, you will in the fall when we really will need some team bonding and leadership. The last of the bad influences will be seniors, but there aren’t that many of them.”

“Hey, kiddo. This is my doing, most of it. I’m not mad at you. I’m aggravated about the whole situation. I pushed things too fast. Carole and I are fine, but you and Finn are not. We should have – I should have listened when you said that Finn wouldn’t want to move in.”

“That’s true. But what’s done is done. I know that you don’t do anything with me and Dave and Paul anymore because it’s like leaving Finn out. But you’re not considering how NOT doing anything with the three of us anymore is leaving ME out.”

“I have actually thought about that. I just don’t know what to do about it.”

“Just invite him. Let him choose to say no. If he doesn’t want to come do something with me and Dave and Paul, then leave him behind. He can do something with his other friends or just stay home.”

“That’s true I suppose. Does Judy go with you?”

“Not usually, but she has gone boating with us before. She comes over for dinner sometimes. They go out. He goes over to her place. It’s different for the two of them. They haven’t been divorced for very long. You and Carole have been single for a long time. And your spouses didn’t leave you or knowingly do something that would hurt you.”

“I know.”

“I don’t think they’re in any rush to get married or anything. Why don’t you talk to Paul? You two seemed to really hit it off and then honestly, you pretty much just dropped him after you started seeing Carole.”

“I should.” Burt looked at the stack of clothes. “I’ll order those patches for Puck. He’s turned his life around.”

“Yep. It’s Finn’s turn.”

“Carole had a talk with him after you left.”

“Hopefully it helps.” Kurt put the clothes in the sacks while they continued to talk.

“Will you come back home?”

“Not until there’s a place for me that’s mine and Dave and I can come and go freely like we could before. Also, I’m tired of the Friday Night Family Dinner. If Carole wants to get to know me, she’s not really showing it, but when I think about it, she probably doesn’t have much time after working all day and then coming home to take care of the two of you.”

“I know what you’re hinting at. I’m a bad example to Finn.”

Kurt just looked at Burt and raised his eyebrow. “I don’t have the answers, but we’re not getting anywhere. You haven’t started on any construction. Are you looking to buy a bigger house?”

“I had hoped to stay here without building on because then I’d be able to help you with college more. I’ve been saving, but if I have to start making mortgage payments again, every dollar I pay is a dollar I can’t save.”

“If it helps you to know, I am happy where I am. I’ll still see you at the shop five days a week this summer. And if you talk to Paul, we can probably do something every other weekend or at least once a month – fishing, boating, and camping or whatever. Puck will probably come sometimes and Azimio. You can think about it. I need to get going.” Kurt picked up the sacks. “You can let me know.” Kurt took the sacks to the Navigator and went back to the Karofsky’s.


	15. Chapter 15

Kurt, Dave, and Puck arrived at Brittany’s few minutes past noon. They went dressed in swim trunks and took clothes to put on afterwards. Brittany showed them to the kitchen where they left the cake, the cupcakes, and the mini empanadas on the counter, and then followed her out to the backyard. It was warm, but not sweltering, which made it nice enough to sit around and enjoy being outside.

About half the group was there already. Artie was already in the pool floating around on the turtle. Kurt and Dave put their towels and their bag on a chair and went and sat on the edge of the pool with their legs in the water. A few minutes later, Finn, Mike, and Matt showed up. All of the guys got in the water, but Kurt continued to sit on the edge.

Mercedes sat down on one side and Tina sat on the other. They showed off their toenails and fingernails. Tina had spent the night at Mercedes and they had given each other manis and pedis. Kurt complimented both of them on their swimsuits. Kurt was surprised when Quinn came out of the house. She was wearing a flattering one-piece with a short skirt wrap, which Kurt complimented her on as she sat down next to Mercedes. She had spent the night at Mercedes’ as well.

Mercedes and Tina excused themselves and Quinn moved closer to Kurt.

“Look, Kurt. I know I’ve never been anything but condescending to you. I’m sorry about that. I know that you’ve been with Dave since before I left. From what Mercedes and Tina say, the two of you are really good for each other. Mercedes told me all about Dave, Azimio, and Puck reforming their bad boy ways.”

“They really have. And they’ve had a good influence on the other jocks. That’s not to say that the rest are ready to embrace the gay or anything, but none of them hassle Dave or me anymore. And if they talk about us, it’s behind our backs, which is a far cry from how things were last year.”

“That’s good. I just want to tell you that I’ve changed a lot too. I’m not that judgmental bitch anymore. I’m not going to make things hard on my mom and Paul. They may end up getting married some day and Dave could become my stepbrother. I don’t think it will be anytime soon, but if Paul makes her happy, then who am I to deny her that. I don’t want to live in Lima. I liked it in Columbus. Some of the girls were older and could drive. Anyway, I just want you to know that I’ve gotten over my homophobic bullshit and who you love is who you love. Love is love. And I’m going to see what I can do about creating a safe space for girls at school to learn about sex instead of the Celibacy Club. Girls need real information. I have to find someone to sponsor it though, so don’t say anything yet.”

“I won’t. It’s a good idea though. How are you holding up?”

“It’s hard some days, a lot of days. I’ll still be going back to Columbus for the support group meetings once a week or every other week. I know I made the right choice, so that helps on the down days. I heard what Rachel’s mother did. I won’t do that. The baby belongs to her new parents. I know that she was in my body, but she’s theirs. Some days it helps me to think about it that way – that I just carried their baby in my body. My exciting news is that I turned 16 the end of April and I took driver’s ed through a place in Columbus when I was still there and I got my license and my sister got me a car for my birthday. Well, she gave me her old car and she bought a different one. It’s like as old as I am, but it runs.”

“Bring it in and I’ll give you a free tune up, minus the cost of whatever parts you need, but don’t tell anyone. I can’t just give out freebies to everyone.”

Quinn laughed. “Just tell me when.”

“Early morning is best.   Call me Wednesday morning and I’ll be at the shop, so I can tell you a day and time then.”

“Perfect.”

The next thing they knew, they were both in the pool. Quinn surfaced quickly and gave Finn the biggest bitch glare. “You jackass.” She swam to the side and got out and dried off, and then started to lecture him.

Kurt floundered at first. His feet touched the bottom and he pushed up and surfaced above the water. He started to move his feet the way Dave had taught him. He was still coughing and struggling to breath, but he made it to the edge. He pulled himself along the edge to the ladder and climbed out.

Dave saw him climbing out and heard Quinn bitching Finn out. He swam to the edge and pulled himself out and went to the chair that he could see Kurt heading for.

“You can stay, but I’m done.” He wrapped his towel around himself. “I need to cool down. I’m going to see if Britt will let me shower. I’m going to change into my clothes and then I’m leaving.” Kurt picked the bag up and went inside.

Dave wrapped himself in his towel and followed Kurt inside. Brittany showed Kurt to the guest bathroom and went back to the kitchen. Dave gently pushed Kurt into the bathroom far enough that he could shut the door behind him. He wrapped his arms around Kurt who started to cry.

“What happened?”

“Quinn and I were having our first real conversation. It was nice. We were just sitting there and talking, and then suddenly we were both in the water. Obviously, Finn pushed us when we didn’t notice he was behind us. We were talking quietly, so we were focusing on hearing each other, not on who was walking behind us. I didn’t know it was him until I made it to the edge and heard Quinn bitching him out.”

Dave held Kurt close.

“I’m going to shower and get dressed. I’m leaving. I’ll be back for you at 2:00.” Kurt kissed him. “I’m okay. I panicked a little bit, but then I remembered what you taught me and I swam to the edge and I’m okay. I don’t want anyone to know that I panicked or that I’m upset. That will just let everyone know that I’m afraid of the water, which is something I’ve been hiding for years. They can’t know. I’m going to go to the shop. Just tell them I had to leave unexpectedly. Dad can be my alibi.” Kurt kissed him once again. “I love you, and because you taught me to swim, I’m okay. Go out there and act like nothing happened, except that I need to leave to go to the shop.”

“Alright. I’ll be dressed at 2:00.” He let Kurt go after kissing him again and went back outside.

When he got back to the kitchen, Quinn asked, “Where’s Kurt?”

“He’s showering and changing. He needs to head over to the shop for something.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. I was going to get his number. He’s going to look over the car my sister gave me.” She had her phone in her hand. “Will you put his number in?”

“Sure.” He put it in and gave it back.

“He said to call him when he was at the shop on Wednesday, but maybe I can do it in like an hour and go ahead and get my appointment.”

“That should work.”

“He’s okay, right? Finn was a jackass and shoved us in. He didn’t hit his head or something. You followed him into the house.”

“Oh, no. I was just seeing why he grabbed our bag of stuff.”

“I wanted to talk to you too. Come on. I’m freezing standing in the air conditioning wet like this.”

Dave followed her back outside and they sat in two lounge chairs side by side that were back a little ways from the pool.

“I’ll tell you what I told Kurt. My mom and your dad are dating and I’m fine with that. He makes my mom happy and I’m good with that. She deserves some happiness. I thought she was happy with my dad, but she wasn’t. She was fulfilling a role she had been raised to play. She’s actually happy with your dad. Maybe they’ll get married some day. Who knows? But I’m not going to get in the way of that. You and I don’t have to become best buddies, but I would like us to be on good terms. I told Kurt that I got over my homophobic indoctrination and I’m fine with the two of you. Love is love. Who am I to say differently? It’s just a non-issue for me now. I’m not going to church anymore. I still believe in God, but I’m working out the rest on my own.”

“That’s about where I am. And I have no problem spending time in the same place with you. As long as we can all be civil, I’m good. I’m glad my dad is happy too. I don’t think that he’ll propose any time soon. He likes your mom and enjoys spending time with her. And I’m fine with that. If you come over to our house with her, you’ll be likely to find me and Kurt cooking, reading, playing games, sometimes video games, and Kurt still sews.”

“Well, he’s doing better than me. I can’t cook or sew. Mom says she wants Kurt to give me cooking lessons.”

“He’s a good cook. He taught me and my dad.”

Quinn smiled. “He makes you happy. I can see it in your eyes. Now, that I see what you look like happy, I realize how miserable were last year.”

“Yeah.” He looked away.

“Hey. It’s a good thing. We’re all growing up. I can honestly say that I wouldn’t choose to go through what I did, but what I’ve learned has changed me in a lot of good ways.”

“Azimio, Puck, and I have worked to wrangle the jocks into not being such jackasses. Puck’s done a 180 since the fall. He goes to all of his classes. He quit drinking. He quit hitting on girls. He’s secretly making really good grades, but he’s hiding it because he doesn’t want to lose his rep. He’s been working at the shop since the fall. Now, he got a second full-time position at the Y for the summer. He’s basically going to be working, sleeping, and spending the weekends with his nana and sister for the whole summer. 5:00-2:00 at the Y and 3:00-7:00 at the shop, Monday through Friday.”

“Finn doesn’t seem to have changed much, shoving me and Kurt into the pool like an idiot.”

“Finn doesn’t want to grow up. I can’t really talk about it because it’s personal to Kurt. The stuff I told you about Puck isn’t a secret, except the good grades part. I don’t think anyone else knows about the Y job yet, but he could have told other people since he got here. He just found out yesterday.”

“I won’t say anything about his grades. I’m glad that he’s figuring out what’s important. We all have to at some point. Getting away from here for a while made a big difference. Seeing that the world is a much bigger place than the halls of McKinley has given me a new perspective.”

“Kurt and I have gone to Columbus several times and a couple of times to Toledo. Going to museums and different things. He took me to a Blue Jackets game.”

Quinn laughed. “I have a hard time picturing him at a big sporting event like that.”

“Yeah, he’s not as prissy as people think. Not by a long shot.”

“I watched Nationals on TV. He was really good.”

“That was both his debut and swan song.”

“I see.”

Azimio walked up to them. “Where’d Kurt go?”

“He had to run to the shop.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry, Z. He brought a cake. One of those chocolate ones with the cherries in the center.”

“Excellent. I think I’ll be going to have a slice of that before the rest of these fools see it and eat it all.”

“You do that.” Dave laughed.

“It’s so weird to see Azimio calling Kurt by his name and being nice to everyone. I don’t feel like I fit in. I left so early that I didn’t sing with the group much.”

“I think you’ll be fine. You and Mercedes and Tina get along now and you were already friends with Santana and Brittany.”

“Friends might be pushing the definition in regards to Santana.”

“She’s actually been pretty chill this year.”

“It’s like you all took nice pills while I was gone, except maybe Finn. He’s just Finn.”

“Yeah.”

“Even Kurt’s more relaxed.”

“Not getting shoved into lockers or dumpster tossed does a lot to improve someone’s ability to relax.”

“I’m sure it does. All I got were looks and being name-called and that was bad enough. Whoever added the ‘words will never hurt me’ line to that rhyme lied.”

“Definitely.”

Brittany called out to get everyone’s attention. “The hot dogs and hamburgers are ready. Come eat!”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt went to the shop like he said he would. Burt was surprised to see him.

“Hey, bud. What’s up? Aren’t you supposed to be at a pool party?”

“I was. Finn shoved me and Quinn into the pool and I lost my ability to be a calm person while continuing to hide my secret fear of the water. Dave’s swimming lesson kept everyone from finding out because I was able to swim to the edge once I stopped panicking, which only lasted like a minute and no one saw because Quinn was bitching Finn out too loudly for anyone to notice how upset I was. I told Dave to tell everyone that you needed me to come to the shop when I went to shower and get dressed.”

“I see.”

“Don’t say anything to Finn. I do NOT want him to know that I am afraid of the water. He can’t keep a secret to save his life and I don’t want it spread around. Maybe by the end of the summer I can get over the fear part. But for now, I still don’t want anyone to know.”

“I get it. Since you’ve come, why don’t you, um, change the spark plugs that are fouled out in that Mazda. And it has two tail lights out at well. That way you will at least have done something while you’re here.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt was back at Brittany’s at 2:00. Dave was waiting out front for him with Puck. Dave was holding their bag and the bowl the empanadas had been in. Puck had the cake carrier, the cupcake carrier, and his backpack. Dave opened the back of the Navigator and he and Puck put everything in, except the bowl. He carried that around to the front. Puck got in the backseat.

“Switch places and you can eat this while I drive.”

Kurt nodded. He got out and got in the passenger seat. Dave handed him the bowl. Kurt opened it and found a hot dog, a hamburger, both dressed the way he liked, and some raw veggies. He started to eat. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. The veggies are courtesy of Rachel, who showed up after you had left. There was some kind of vegan dip, but I didn’t have anyway to bring any of it.”

“They’re fine like this.”

Kurt turned toward Puck. “You ready to go shopping?”

“As ready as I’m going to get. We’re going to try Goodwill first, right?”

“Yep. And then I have a plan B and a good coupon.”

Puck laughed. “I’m sure you do. I saved you a cupcake for when you finish that stuff.”

“Thanks.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Two hours later they were in the Navigator headed back to the Karofsky’s.

“Alright, you are my new shopping partner for life. Whenever I go in those places, people don’t want to help me. I never find what I’m looking for. And if I do, it’s not on sale. You’re like some kind of shopping ninja wizard or something.”

Kurt laughed.

“Seriously. It’s like you know this whole language the rest of us don’t know. It was awesome. I got everything I need and it was a lot less than I was dreading. One weekend, we’ll coordinate something because I really want you to take my sister shopping. My nana’s too old to have any fun doing it and my sister would love going with you.”

“Sure. We’ll go to Columbus with you some weekend and take your sister shopping. We can go to one of those kiddie arcade places and then to the $1 movie theater.”

“Sounds like a plan. Maybe one Friday night, I can go get her and bring her back and we can take her out on the boat with us. She would think that’s so cool.”

“We’ll work on it.”

When they pulled into the driveway, Puck hopped out and grabbed his backpack and his shopping bags. He tossed everything into his truck and took off for Columbus. He waved as he drove off.

Kurt and Dave grabbed their stuff from the back and went inside. Kurt noticed that Paul wasn’t home. Dave dropped the bag by the door and Kurt put down the one bag he had from shopping. They took the cake carrier, cupcake carrier, and the bowl to the kitchen to wash them.

As soon as Dave’s hands were empty, Kurt stepped forward and wrapped cupped Dave’s face and kissed him. Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt’s torso and pulled him close. Kurt wrapped slipped his arms under Dave’s and held him. He began to gently kiss Dave’s neck. Then, he propped his head on Dave’s shoulder.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Being you. Caring. For having my back and letting me leave and covering for me. For making sure I was okay. For keeping it together and not going after Finn. Just all of it. And then you brought me lunch, with everything the way I like it. You were thinking about me when I wasn’t there. You’re so sweet to me. And I’m so glad you taught me how to swim. I’m okay because you did.”

Dave slowly ran his hand up and down Kurt’s back. “You’re welcome, but it wasn’t anything I wouldn’t normally do.”

“I know. That’s why it’s so special. A lot of people do these big things where other people can see so they get noticed, and not that I would mind that because sometimes it’s fun. But it’s the little things that people do that no one else knows about that show how much someone really cares. You could have gone and done the macho showdown thing with Finn and defended my honor and whatnot and made a big deal of it. But you didn’t. You came after me instead and that meant everything to me.”

“Let’s go upstairs.” He loosened his hold on Kurt.

Kurt stepped back. “Let’s toss the wet stuff in the washer before we go up.”

“I’ll grab it. Go on up.” Dave went and grabbed the swim trunks and towels and put them in the washer. He took the rest of their stuff upstairs. When he stepped inside the room, he closed the door behind him and locked it after he saw Kurt. He was lying in the bed in just his t-shirt and his boxer briefs. Dave could barely think. He refocused and put the stuff in his hands down and walked over to the bed.

“Come snuggle me? Or let me snuggle up on you?”

Dave didn’t say anything.

Kurt looked at Dave. “Oh, do you want me to put some pajamas pants on?”

“No?”

“Is that an answer or a question?”

“Both. Can I take my shorts off too?”

“Of course. Grab the throw. We might get chilly or we can get under the covers and snuggle.”

Dave grabbed the throw from the back of the chair. He sat on the edge of the bed and slipped his shorts off, and then covered up and lay back in a single motion. He tossed the throw across Kurt’s legs.

“Are you embarrassed? We can put pajama pants on if this is too much.”

“It’s okay. I’m just surprised is all.”

Kurt got back up and turned some music on and got back in bed. Dave waited to see what Kurt was going to do. Kurt kissed him and then lay flat on his back and closed his eyes. Dave reached out and found Kurt’s hand and held it, interlacing their fingers.

“Can we talk or do you want to take a nap?”

“I’m not sleepy, but you wanted to snuggle and I’d be nuts to turn down a snuggle. What do you want to talk about?”

“Us.”

“What about us?”

“I know I’ve been the one to slow everything down and I’m afraid that you’ve gotten the impression that I’m not attracted to you or something. You looked embarrassed when you got in bed without your shorts on.”

“Oh.”

“Please be completely honest. I know you won’t lie to me, but tell me the whole truth.”

“When I came in and saw you, my body reacted to that and it’s not embarrassing exactly, but it’s…”

“Embarrassing.”

“Yeah.”

“This is going to sound conceited probably, but I think it’s super hot that you find me attractive. So, knowing that you got a hard on from seeing me when you came in is… the right word isn’t coming to mind because my mind went elsewhere.”

Dave laughed. “The same place mine did when I walked in?”

“Pretty much.”

“I’ll be completely honest. I just want to touch you everywhere, pretty much all the time. Not even just to do THOSE kinds of things. I just love the way touching you feels. I like feeling your skin against mine.”

Kurt sat up and took his shirt off and put it on the bedside table. He lay back down on his back, but didn’t pull the throw over his chest. He turned on his side slightly and looked Dave in the eyes. “You can touch me. I think I probably want you to as much as you want to. I’ve been conditioned to avoid touching people. And people have intentionally avoided touching me. But it feels so good when you do it. Please?”

Kurt turned on his side and faced Dave. Dave turned on his side as well. Kurt smiled and reached out and ran his fingers down the side of Dave’s face. “It’s okay. I’m not afraid of you touching me. I love you.” He leaned forward and gently kissed Dave. “I trust you.” He put his hand back on his thigh so that he wasn’t blocking Dave from touching him in any way.

Dave put his hand on Kurt’s shoulder and gently ran his fingers along the length of his arm. When he got to his hand, he rotated Kurt’s wrist so that he could run his fingers along the underside of Kurt’s arm. Kurt shivered. Dave pulled back.

“Keep going, please.”

Dave nodded and smiled.

After a minute or two, Kurt said, “I have a better idea.”

“What?”

Kurt moved and flipped so that he was face down, but turned his head so that was looking at Dave still. “Straddle me and then you can use both hands.”

“I’ll squish you.”

“Not if you sit on your knees. I’ll scoot to the middle a little bit when you sit up.”

They rearranged and Dave straddled Kurt and put both of his hands on Kurt’s shoulders and ran them down Kurt’s arms. Kurt nearly purred. Dave took his time and explored every bit of Kurt’s skin.

“God, you’re soft.”

“Mmm. So you appreciate my skin care efforts?”

Dave put his hands on the bed next to Kurt’s shoulders and leaned forward and started kissing the back of Kurt’s neck. Kurt startled. Dave stopped.

“Keep going. I was just surprised. You can kiss me all you want to.”

“I’m not sure that’s possible.” He stared kissing down Kurt’s spine and then back up.

By the time, he got back up to the base of Kurt’s neck, Kurt was scrambling to turn over. He reached up and pulled Dave down and kissed him, licking at his lower lip to deepen the kiss. Dave propped on his elbows in an attempt to keep his weight off of Kurt. When they finally broke for air, Kurt ran his hands up under the sleeves of Dave’s t-shirt.

“Will you take your shirt off too?”

Dave pushed up and pulled it off and dropped it next to the bed.

“Can I touch you too? Please?”

“I’m yours. I have been for ages. I love you so much. You can do anything you want.”

Kurt reached for him and he leaned forward and they went back to kissing. This time Kurt wrapped his arms around Dave and pulled him down closer. He ran his hands along Dave’s back. When they paused for air, Kurt said, “My turn then. You lie on your stomach.

Dave kissed him and said, “Okay.” He moved over and lay face down on the bed scooting to the middle once Kurt moved a little.

Kurt sat down and straddled him. He began to run his hands gently all over Dave’s back and arms. He leaned forward and kissed Dave’s neck and then began to massage’s Dave’s shoulders, which caused him to moan. “You like that?”

“Like is not a strong enough word.”

Kurt kept rubbing, changing his grip slightly and eventually moved both hands to Dave’s right arm, then to his left. Once he finished his arms, Kurt moved both hands back and massaged down Dave’s back, his shoulder blades, and then down to his lower back. On the way back up, he went back to gentle touches and light pressure.

When he got to his neck, he leaned forward and whispered, “Can I do the front too?”

Kurt pushed up on all fours and gave Dave room to turn over and he gently caressed Dave’s face before he kissed his forehead. Dave reached forward and put his hands on Kurt’s waist. Kurt kissed along Dave’s jaw line and eventually recaptured his lips and deepened the kiss quickly. He moved the kisses down Dave’s neck and to his shoulder. He sat back up and ran his hands along Dave’s shoulders and down his arms and back up. He ran his fingers through the hair on Dave’s chest and moved on to caress his whole upper body.

“You know, I used to think I didn’t like body hair, but I think it was because I only ever saw old guys with body hair. All the ads these days show all of the muscle-y guys with zero body hair and even in the older muscle magazines. But I was wrong. Really wrong. God, it’s so sexy. So hot.” Kurt moved back to running his fingers through Dave’s chest hair.

Dave laughed. “So, I take it that you don’t want me to shave it off so I look more like the guys in your muscle magazines?”

“If you want to shave it off, you can, but don’t do it on my account. And I don’t even look at those magazines anymore. They’re still in a box in the spare room. I haven’t had them out in I don’t know maybe a week or two after April gave them to me. I have you now. Why would I look at magazines?” He leaned forward and kissed Dave again. “Why look at a picture when I have a totally handsome muscle man of my own?” Kurt kissed him breathless. When they stopped to catch their breath, Kurt kissed along Dave’s jaw to his ear and whispered. “Why bother with eye candy when I’ve got the sweetest guy ever as my boyfriend?” Kurt kissed him again.

“You’re serious?”

“I am. Completely and totally.”

“I’m feeling a little lost. And while I am totally into you massaging and petting me, and me touching you, I feel like I skipped a chapter in a book and missed something key to the plot.”

Kurt moved to lie back down on his side and faced Dave, who turned over to face him. Kurt put his hand on Dave’s chest and was still running his fingers through his chest hair. He pushed forward and kissed Dave. “I’m not sure exactly how to explain it. When I first accepted your request to date and to be your boyfriend, I was hesitant. You knew that and you were really sweet about it. You understood that I was leery of the whole situation. I was taking a big risk because you were just coming to terms with everything that was going to happen. You were taking a big risk because it was a big life-altering change for you. I was afraid that you’d bail because it would be so hard. But then when the hockey guys came after you, you didn’t break up with me. You’ve been nothing but supportive from the very beginning. It was me who was holding back. You’ve been so patient and I’ve been hesitant. And I guess this afternoon, it just finally clicked in my fear-laden brain that you’re not going to walk all over me. Before you feel insulted, let me finish please.”

“Okay.”

“Please listen carefully because this is a compliment, no matter how weird it sounds. When you followed me into Britt’s house rather than go after Finn for what he did, it was this flash of clarity in my mind. It blew away this lingering feeling I’ve always had that I would always be the lesser man in a relationship – that any guy who liked me, would see me as the lesser man. He would view me as someone that needed protected and defended the way guys see girls. And when you followed me in and listened to me and didn’t try to convince me to do something besides what I had chosen to do and you didn’t feel the need to confront Finn to avenge my honor or whatever, I realized that you don’t see me that way. I felt like you trusted my judgment. Like you saw me as a man who could make his own choice and that you would stand by me and my choices. I know you’ve told me lots of times that you think I’m gorgeous or sexy or whatever, and I believe you, but guys say that about girls too. I know I’m not very masculine in the eyes of society, but today when you treated my wishes and my choice as completely valid and supported me, I felt like your equal. And even thought it may seem like something very small to you, it was everything to me.” Kurt took a deep breath and let it out slowly and closed his eyes for a minute. He felt Dave’s fingers trail down his cheek.

“Open your eyes, please.” He waited for Kurt to look at him before he spoke again. “I DO see you as my equal. I always have, but I can see why you would doubt that. I’m not glad that Finn shoved you in the pool, but I’m glad that you realized that I do trust your judgment. I don’t see myself as more of a man than you. I think you are totally hot in a completely masculine way.” Dave scooted closer and spoke quietly directly into Kurt’s ear. “I’ll tell you that even before I told you that I was gay, I’d have dreams about you, very hot dreams, and even though we’d switch, I always dreamed of you being the top no matter who was in who.”

“Oh, my God, Dave.”

Dave laughed. “You’ve never had hot dreams about me?”

Kurt barely nodded.

“So, you have, but you don’t want to tell me about them?”

“Maybe some time.”

“I’ll look forward to that.” He licked the edge of Kurt’s ear, and then started kissing down Kurt’s neck.

“That tickles, but it feels good.”

“I want everything we do to feel good. One day, if I’m very, very lucky, you’ll let me worship every bit of your body, down to your pinky toes.”

“Dave…”

“I’m a very patient guy.”

“I know. And sweet. And kind. And generous. And you’re fun to talk to and be with. And you make me feel important because you listen to my ideas about things and we talk about all sorts of stuff. And your ideas make me think, and I like it when you share them with me. And there’s lots more reasons why I love you, but I’m pretty sure that I lured you into bed with the promise of a snuggle, which we haven’t gotten around to, so if you still want that snuggle, roll onto your back so I can snuggle up to you.”

Kurt waited. Once Dave was lying on his back again, Kurt grabbed the throw and straightened it back up and laid his head on Dave shoulder and Dave wrapped his arm around Kurt and put his hand on Kurt’s waist. Kurt put his hand on Dave’s chest and wrapped his leg over Dave’s, which startled Dave.

“This okay? You jumped a little.”

“It’s fine.   I just wasn’t expecting it. I like it.”

Kurt tipped his head up and Dave met his lips for a quick kiss. “Hold that thought.” Kurt rolled back and grabbed his phone to check the time and to set an alarm. He put it back on the side table and snuggled back up. “I want to make sure we still go down to make dinner when we’re supposed to.”

Right about the time Kurt got comfortable again, Dave’s phone pinged with a text. Kurt rolled back and let Dave sit up and grab his shorts to pull his phone out of the pocket. He looked at the text and then laid the phone on the side table. He lay back down in the bed and Kurt scooted closer.

“Dad says that he’ll be here at 6:30 and make enough of whatever we’re making for 4 people.”

“Okay. Back to snuggling.” Kurt wrapped himself back around Dave and started petting him again.

Dave took a deep breath and let it out, relaxing. “That’s both arousing and relaxing.”

Kurt smiled. “Should I stop?”

“Definitely not. I never knew I’d like being petted so much.”

“Can we sleep like this tonight?”

Dave turned and tipped Kurt’s chin up. “Have I ever told you that sometimes you ask silly questions?”

“Once or twice, maybe.” Kurt kissed him. “So, I take that as a yes.”

“Yes, definitely yes.” Dave squeezed him.

They continued to talk and snuggle until Kurt’s phone alarm went off. They reluctantly gave up their comfortable positions and got up. They redressed. While Kurt was straightening his hair up, Dave folded the throw back up. They headed downstairs together and got to work on dinner.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Paul met Burt outside and brought him in quietly and led him into the dining room, where he had him sit down out of the line of sight of the kitchen. He put his index finger to his lip to keep Burt from talking. Burt sat quietly and paid attention to what he could hear coming from the kitchen. He could hear chopping and general kitchen noise and Dave singing. Burt recognized the song from hearing it on the oldies station he played in the shop some of the time.

 _Earth angel, earth angel_  
_Will you be mine?_  
_My darling dear_  
_Love you all the time_  
_I'm just a fool_  
_A fool in love with you_

__

_Earth angel, earth angel_  
_The one I adore_  
_Love you forever and ever more_  
_I'm just a fool_  
_A fool in love with you_

 _I fell for you and I knew_  
_The vision of your love-loveliness_  
_I hoped and I pray that someday_  
_I'll be the vision of your hap-happiness_

“Hmm. Let me think. I’m sure that I can come up with something equally as sappy and true…” Kurt started to sing next, while the chopping continued.

 _Nothing you could say can tear me away from my guy_  
_Nothing you could do 'cause I'm stuck like glue to my guy_  
_I'm sticking to my guy, like a stamp to a letter_  
_Like birds of a feather, we, stick together_  
_I'm telling you from the start, I can't be torn apart from my guy_

 _Nothing you could do, could make me be untrue to my guy_  
_Nothing you could buy could make me tell a lie to my guy_  
_I gave my guy, my word of honor, to be faithful, and I'm gonna_  
_You'd better be believing, I won't be deceiving my guy_

 _As a matter of opinion, I think he's tops_  
_My opinion is he's the cream of the crop_  
_As a matter of taste to be exact_  
_He's my ideal, as a matter of fact_

 _No muscle bound man could take my hand from my guy_  
_No handsome face could ever take the place of my guy_  
_He may not be a movie star but when it comes to being happy, we are_  
_There's not a man today who can take me away from my guy_

“You’re sure about that are you?”

Burt heard Kurt laughing. Obviously he was being tickled.

“I’m sure.”

“These are ready to go in.”

“So are mine.”

Burt heard bowls being put down and scraped and tapped.

“Everything’s almost ready. Let’s sing the one we sang at school.”

“Which one?”

“The Everly Brothers one.”

Dave started and Kurt picked up in the second line with the harmony.

_Darlin’, you can count on me,_  
_‘Til the sun dries up the sea._  
_Until then I’ll always be devoted to you._

_I’ll be yours through endless time._  
_I’ll adore your charms sublime._  
_Guess by now you know that I’m devoted to you._

_I’ll never hurt you. I’ll never lie._  
_I’ll never be untrue._  
_I’ll never give you reason to cry._  
_I’d be unhappy if you were blue._

_Through the years my love will grow._  
_Like a river, it will flow._  
_It can’t die because I’m so devoted to you._

Burt heard what he thought was a brief kiss.

“I think that’s it. We can put the bowls out on the table. Your dad and whoever else should be here soon.”

“I’ll get some glasses and ice out.”

Kurt stepped into the dining room and saw Burt and Paul sitting the table. His eyes lit up and a huge grin formed on his face. “Dad!” He put the two bowls in his hands down on the table. “I didn’t know you were Paul’s plus one for the evening.”

Burt laughed. “It’s good to see you too, even if I just saw you like five hours ago. That was some nice singing I heard.”

Kurt blushed slightly. “Thanks. I’m going to go get the other two bowls.”

Kurt went into the kitchen, stepping out of the way as Dave came out with four glasses of ice. Kurt brought out the other two bowls and went back for silverware and napkins. Dave carried the pitcher of lightly sweetened honey tea out and sat it on the table. He poured them all drinks. They all started to eat.

“So, what are your plans for the summer, Dave?” Burt asked.

“I’m training for hockey in the mornings in Findlay and then I’m working the library as a math tutor in the afternoons from noon until four.”

“What exactly are you tutoring?”

“Well, there’s this computerized test students can take at the library on one of the computers or at home and it gives them a score and then they can compare it to a chart and if the student’s score is below a certain level, the can get tutored for free. The materials are provided and already set up to start wherever the student started to fail the test. So, the student gives me the print out and I can tell which worksheets to start with. And then we just go from there. Each person gets 10 minutes of explanation on the topic and then 15 minutes to work on it. And then I go over what they did for 5 minutes. The idea is that they can get caught up by the fall and be ready to learn the material for the next class or they’ll be prepared to retake the state tests. It’s mostly high school students who didn’t pass the state tests in the spring or who failed Algebra or another math class this past year from my understanding. I haven’t done it yet, but it seems pretty straightforward from the training I went to yesterday. It’s some kind of joint venture from the state, the local high schools, and the library. I’ll just rotate through people all afternoon. There are other students tutoring other subjects.”

“That seems like a good use of money. Not everyone can afford to go to one of those tutoring centers.”

“It’s a new program, so I guess if it works this year, they’ll do it again next year.”

“How did you find out about it?”

“My math teacher asked me if I’d be interested.”

“You interested in teaching math?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never really taught anyone or tutored before. I guess I’ll know more by the end of the summer.”

“You guys already signed up for your classes for the fall, right?” Paul asked.

“Yeah. We did that back in April,” Kurt answered. “I’m taking French 4, Spanish 3, Pre-Calculus, American Literature, US History, and Biology.”

“I’m taking French 3, Calculus, American Literature, US History, Biology, and Statistics as an elective.”

Burt thought for a second, “So you have three classes that are the same?”

“Yeah,” Dave answered. “Kurt’s ahead of me in French, but I’m ahead of him in math. Neither one of us have taken Biology yet. Kurt took Earth Science freshman year and I took Chemistry. Next year, I’ll have to go to North Lima or Lima Community College for my math class. McKinley doesn’t offer anything higher than Calculus.”

Paul asked, “What does North Lima offer?”

“AP Calculus. I’d get college credit if I take the class and the comprehensive exam at the end of the year. I just have to figure out what’s better for me when the time comes.”

“I’ll have to do the same thing to continue with French and I’d like to do it with Spanish because McKinley’s language teachers just aren’t that good. We don’t have any AP classes.”

Burt asked, “I don’t know what that means.”

“Advanced Placement. High school students take courses that are college level and at the end of the year you take a test like Dave said. If you do well on the test, you get college credits.”

“Sounds hard, but worth it, I guess.”

“I don’t know that much about it, but I’m going to look into it.”

“This taco salad is really good,” Burt said.

Kurt smiled. “I’m glad you like it. I’m glad you came for dinner. Are you staying or do you have to leave after we eat?”

“Nah, I’m staying. We’re going to watch the end of a baseball game and talk. I brought a DVD to watch after the game. Later we’re all going out for ice cream.”

Kurt gave him the raised eyebrow look.

“Fine, I’ll have frozen yogurt with fruit.”

Kurt laughed. “Me too.”

“Of course you will,” Burt teased.

Dave and Kurt cleared the table after everyone had finished eating. Burt stepped into the kitchen before heading into the den to watch the game.

“I’ll text you when we’re ready to start the movie.”

“Sure. I think we’re going out back to read. We got a cool two-person hammock yesterday that we’re looking forward to trying out.”

Burt just shook his head and smiled.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt ran upstairs to retrieve their books and Dave grabbed the hammock box from the garage and took it out to the backyard. They had opted to splurge on the one with a frame so they could move it around the yard. It didn’t take long and they had it put together. They moved it alongside the house in the shade and climbed in carefully. Neither of them had ever shared a hammock before, but they managed to get in without tipping it. It came with neck roll pillows, which they arranged and started to read.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“They’re like an old married couple. A happy old married couple,” Burt said. “I miss seeing them. I messed things up and there’s no way to fix them back. I love Carole. And Finn and I hit it off so easily. The issue is that he really is a lot like me, in the bad ways. He’s lazy and homophobic.”

“Sounds about like you at his age.”

Burt rolled his eyes. “You weren’t any better.”

“I wasn’t. We changed, but Finn’s still in the middle of it. How would you have reacted to being told you were going to share a bedroom with a gay guy you were only acquainted with from being in a class or two at school.”

“I would have been even more surly than Finn has been. I just never associated Finn with all that stuff Kurt told me the football players did to him. He’s a nice kid.”

“He’s a follower. He’s a people pleaser. He surveys a situation and does whatever the majority are doing. He behaves decently around you because he wants you to like him. But from what I’ve heard, he was part of the pee balloon attack that Kurt endured. That is not what nice people do to someone else. I know there were quite a few others that participated, including Puck. But he’s changed. He’s quit being a jackass to people. Finn…”

“Finn shoved Quinn and Kurt into the pool at that Glee party they went to at lunch time. Kurt doesn’t want me to say anything about it to Finn and I won’t, but it just proves that he’s still acting like a jackass.”

They both quit talking for a few minutes to watch the game.

“I talked to Carole this afternoon. I think we’re going to try to get Finn some counseling, but I need to find a good place. It has to be someone who isn’t a homophobe because that will only make things worse.”

“Definitely.”

“Kurt’s happy here. I’m glad, but I miss him. I got used to living with the way he did everything and it’s a struggle sometimes with Carole. She’s not hard to live with, just different. She’s rearranged stuff to her liking. It’s just weird sometimes. Kurt kept things the way Lizzie had them. He was too young to think about why things were where they were. He just memorized where she kept things and he was always observant, so he did what he had seen her do. Plus, he read books and magazines and stuff. But Carole’s not willing to relinquish control of the household to Kurt and he’s not willing to live with her rules. So, the impasse remains.”

“You know he’s welcome here, but I know that’s not what you want. I don’t know how you can get what you want at this point. Kurt’s been living here for 3½ months. You don’t want to move, you don’t want to add on, and he won’t share a room with Finn. Impasse on two levels.”

“I know.”

“Do you want my honest opinion?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Kurt’s your kid, not Finn. You’re choosing Finn over Kurt all the time. And you’re not being much of an example on how to be a modern man. You moved Carole in and just let her do everything that Kurt had done. Your arms aren’t broken. Your hands work. Nothing’s keeping you from washing dishes or sweeping. You’re as used to be coddled as Finn is. I think until you change your old-fashioned attitude about what men do, you’re going to have a continued fight on your hands with Finn. As long as Carole’s willing to do everything for the two of you, neither one of you will do a thing around that house.”

“Not holding back tonight I see.”

“I’m being honest. You have a son who loves you and respects you and took care of you for 8 years. And you pretty much dumped him for a new model, in two parts. A son who likes the things you do and a caregiver that’s a romantic partner – leaving Kurt with the role of co-worker as the only thing he still is in your life.”

“I’m going to do better. I let my heart overshadow my brain for a while. I’m going to fix it though.”

“I’m not sure it was your heart.” Paul raised his eyebrows and tipped his head slightly and smirked. “The only thing you can do now is to stop favoring Finn over Kurt.”

Burt sat there looking torn and contemplating what to say next.

“You invited Carole and Finn out for ice cream and to come over for the movie, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I thought we could all watch a funny movie together and go out afterward and at least do something fun together.”

“Bad choice. Why don’t you just bow out and go home after the game? Take the movie with you and watch it at your house with Carole and Finn. Trying to force this isn’t the answer. Kurt was so excited you were here. He thought you made this evening about the two of you and all four of us, like we did before you started dating Carole. I’m sorry to say but Finn isn’t really welcome here right now. Kurt is here and this is his safe space now and I won’t let Finn take that from him.”

“You’re serious?”

“I wouldn’t agree to let my own wife who I loved stay here with her attitude toward Dave and homosexuality. What makes you think that I would allow a homophobic teen to come over here and be disrespectful of my son and Kurt? Homophobia is a choice. Being gay is not. When Finn stops being homophobic, he’s welcome to come over whenever, but not until then. Carole’s welcome anytime. So, I guess you have a choice to make. Stay alone and watch it with the three of us or take the movie and go home.”

Burt pulled out his phone and sent a text. He stood up and grabbed the movie. “Thanks for dinner. I’m going to go home and do something about fixing this.”

Paul nodded and let Burt see himself out.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt pulled his phone out when it pinged with a text.

“Oh, Dad left. Do you want to read more or go inside and watch a movie with your dad?”

“Let’s go in. We can read more later tonight or come back out tomorrow morning.”

“We don’t have to go out for ice cream. We still have fudgesicles in the freezer.”

“You wouldn’t dare eat them the way you normally do with my dad around.”

Kurt about choked when he laughed. “Definitely not. That’s just for you.”

“Torture. You like to torture me.” He pulled Kurt’s hand up and kissed it.

“It’s called teasing, not torture. It’s a teasing preview.”

“One that gives me quite vivid dreams. Why did your dad leave?”

“I’m not sure. He just said, ‘I have to go fix something at home.’”

“Oh. So, inside?”

“Yep, but I’m stalling still because I’m not really sure how to get out without tipping the hammock, but here goes my best effort.” Kurt rotated and sat up and managed to get out without tipping Dave.

Dave climbed out and they headed inside. He called out as they went in. “Dad?”

“In here,” Paul responded from the den.

“We put the hammock up. Do you want to try it out?”

“Sure.” Paul got up and followed them back outside. “It’s nice.” He walked over to it and got in it and laid back. “It’s comfortable.”

“We’ll look for a decorative basket or something to roll it up and put the pillows with it in the next time we go to Goodwill or stop at a yard sale if we see one. Or we should just hang it from a hook in the garage and keep the pillows with it. That way it won’t get wet every time it rains.”

“Grab it and hang it from the tool hooks for tonight. You can figure out a good place for it later.”

“Okay,” Kurt said. “We don’t have to watch a movie tonight. That was a last-minute addition anyway. Why don’t Dave and I go ahead and make what we’re taking with us tomorrow and get everything ready like we had planned.”

“That’s fine. I’ll help too, if there’s something I can do to be helpful and not be in the way.”

“Oh, sure. That watermelon needs cut up. I was just going to cut it into large bite-sized cubes.”

“No problem.”

Everyone set out to work and an hour later, they had everything packed up for the next day.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt had abandoned reading and was cuddling up against Dave as close as he could get, while pretending to still be reading. He managed to get himself in a position where he could kiss down Dave’s arm while still holding the book in a way that he could have been reading. When he started to lightly lick Dave’s skin when kissing him, Dave lost all ability to focus.

He laughed. “Are we done reading for now?”

“Feel free to continue. I’m enjoying myself.”

“Mmm hmm. I can’t think when you’re doing that.”

“Should I stop?”

“No. Please continue.”

Kurt put his book on the shelf and put Dave’s on the other end. He straddled Dave’s lap and took his shirt off. Dave reached out and gently ran his hands down Kurt’s sides. Kurt put his hands on Dave’s shoulders and leaned forward and kissed him. He pressed in and Dave quite willingly deepened the kiss and pulled Kurt closer. When the paused long enough to catch their breath, Kurt shifted slightly and started lightly licking at Dave’s ear. He spoke so low, Dave could barely hear him. “Shower with me?” Kurt pulled back and looked Dave in the eyes.

“Really?”

“If you want, you know where to find me.” Kurt got up and walked to the bedroom door to make sure that it was locked, and then grabbed his shirt off the floor and put it and his shorts in the laundry basket and walked into the bathroom.

Dave was sitting on the futon still stunned, but he got up and followed Kurt into the bathroom after Kurt had stepped into the shower. “You’re serious?”

“I wouldn’t tease, if I weren’t going to follow through. That’s just mean. Yes, I’m serious, but I won’t be hurt if you’re not ready. It’s fine. I can wait.”

Dave started to undress. The hesitance could be seen on his face. Kurt looked out the shower and saw him. His heart hurt from the look he saw.

“If you’re hesitating because you’re not ready, that’s okay. If you’re hesitating because you think I’m going to somehow be disappointed in what I see, you’re wrong. Remember that when I look in the mirror I don’t see what you see and when you look in the mirror you don’t see what I see.”

Dave nodded. “You’re right that the hesitation is from being afraid that I’m not…”

“Not thin like me? Not … whatever words are springing up in your mind? Don’t let those lies fool you. I’ll leave you to make your own choice, but don’t make your choice based on lies. I love you.” Kurt shut the shower curtain back and stepped toward the water and got his hair wet. When he reached for his shampoo, instead of finding the bottle, he felt Dave’s hand on the bottle.

“Can I?”

“Yes.” Kurt turned so that his back was towards Dave and he tilted his chin up so that Dave could lather his hair up without the shampoo dripping in his eyes. Once Dave was done, Kurt turned so that he could rinse the shampoo out. Once it was out, he opened his eyes.

“God, you’re perfect. More gorgeous that I had imagined from my locker room sneak-peek last year.”

Kurt laughed. “At least you weren’t hung over. My only recollection of seeing you with your clothes off was seriously unreliable and totally didn’t do you justice. You are so strong. You’re like buff everywhere. I want to wash your hair too. We need to stop staring and get with it or we’re going to end up with cold water.” Kurt took the sprayer down and handed it to Dave. He picked up Dave’s shampoo bottle and poured some into his hand and started to lather up Dave’s hair.

“I’m going to be honest here. I don’t ever want to wash my hair again. I want you to do it from now on.”

Kurt laughed. “You can rinse it now. Does that mean that you want me to wash the rest of you?”

“Would you?”

“If you want me to.”

“Yes. Definitely yes.”

Kurt started at the top and worked his way down, having Dave turn as needed, making eye contact as he went along making sure that what he was doing was okay. When Kurt finished, they reversed roles.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt went into the bedroom in his towel, pulled out a pair of boxer briefs, put them on, and went back into the bathroom to do his moisturizing. When he went in, Dave was in his underwear and had started to shave. Kurt hung his towel up and just stood and watched him. When he finished, Kurt stepped closer and kissed him. “I’m not sure that I’ve ever told you how much I appreciate it that you shave at night. I like you soft face nuzzling into the back of my neck when we go to sleep.”

Dave wiped the counter down and gently pushed Kurt back to sit on the countertop. “Which one of these goes on first?”

Kurt picked up a bottle from the basket. He opened it and took Dave’s hand and put the right amount on his index finger before slipping the bottle back into the basket. He took Dave’s hand and pressed his finger to the right place on his forehead and then drew his finger through the cream once in each direction and guided Dave in the proper amount of pressure and the technique to apply to smooth it in. When he finished, he grabbed another bottle and continued his hand over hand teaching of him what to do. By the time they finished, Kurt was so turned on that he pulled Dave in close and began kissing him passionately. He wrapped his legs around the back of Dave’s thighs and his arms around his neck. “If your kink is me washing your hair, I think I just found mine. God, that was hot.” He went back to kissing Dave.

Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt’s waist and picked him up off the counter and used his elbow to turn the light off on the way out of the bathroom. The only lights in the bedroom that were on were the lanterns above the bed. He carried Kurt and sat down on the bed so that Kurt was essentially sitting in his lap. They continued to kiss. Kurt unhooked his legs and managed to arrange himself so he was straddling Dave’s lap. He moved them back until he pushed Dave backwards until he lay back. Dave turned a bit and got himself situated on the bed. Kurt continued to straddle him and kissed up his neck and reconnected their lips.

“I love you David Allen Karofsky. You are sweet, smart, patient, kind, generous, loving, imaginative, fun, handsome, and totally sexy and attractive. Until tonight, I didn’t realize that you needed to hear some of those things as much as I do. I will do better. I love you so much and I so glad that you’re my boyfriend.”

At first, Dave looked a little stunned by Kurt’s sweeping words of affirmation, but he saw the affection in Kurt’s eyes and the genuine smile on his face. Dave smiled shyly and reached out for Kurt’s hand and kissed his fingers. He let go and pushed up on his elbow and wrapped his hand behind Kurt’s neck and gently pulled him down to kiss him. Kurt relaxed and lay on Dave’s chest and Dave slipped back down onto his back. Kurt propped on his elbows and deepened the kiss.

When they broke for air, Kurt stretched out to the edge of his side of the bed and flipped the switch to turn the mini lantern lights off. He scooted back over and laid his head on Dave’s chest and entangled his legs with Dave’s. He ran his fingers gently across Dave’s chest. Dave wrapped his arm around Kurt, holding him close. He tipped his head down and kissed Kurt on the forehead. “I love you too.”

Kurt felt him tense a bit, but waited for a couple of minutes to see if he was going to say anything else. When he didn’t, Kurt asked, “Is there something else you want to say? You seem to be holding something back.”

“I just don’t want to sound like … I just … the hair washing and the …”

“Additional shower activities?”

Dave laughed. “Yeah. Can we do that again?”

“I hope so.” He tipped his head up and kissed Dave. “I’ve done my fair share of imagining and even with my seemingly vivid imagination, I failed spectacularly at imagining just how amazing it would feel.”

“Me too. And I’ll do your face lotion stuff.”

“Yes, please. Oh, God. I’m not going to be able to think about that in public.”

Dave smiled. He reached over and ran his fingers down Kurt’s cheek and tipped his chin up and kissed him. “So sexy.” He leaned down and kissed him.

Within a few minutes, Kurt ended up straddling Dave and kissing him passionately again. This time Dave pushed Kurt’s knees back so that Kurt ended lying on top of him.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next morning, Kurt woke up in Dave’s arms like he had for months. He had slept so peacefully ever since they started to share a bed. He was overwhelmed by the immensity of how he content and full of joy he felt. His life wasn’t perfect, but he had no belief that it ever would be. If someone had told him that he’d feel like he did the year before, he wouldn’t have believed them. He had his dad still. He had Dave who loved him. He had made new friends.

“Whatcha thinking about?”

“Just thinking about how much I like my life.”

“Mmm. So, no regrets about last night?”

“Nope. Not a one. I’d definitely be up for an encore.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt spoke quietly to Quinn. “Come on. It’s either hiking with the three of us or sitting here with the two of them until it’s time to eat.”

“Fine.” Quinn stood up and followed them.

“You know we’re not so bad.”

“Three guys, not so bad, huh?”

“Come on, Quinn. What’s got you so upset?” Dave asked.

“I’m just being a drama queen is all. Nothing new.”

They all gave her time to elaborate.

“It’s really just me. I went out this morning to get a few things my mom sent me out for and I ran into my dad and his new girlfriend. Mom hadn’t said anything about her, but I was really shocked to find that she didn’t look to be much older than Frannie and she was very, um, goth? Biker girl chic? I’m not sure. She had on a sleeveless leather vest with a black tank top, and a very short denim skirt. And a lot of tattoos. And to top it all off, he pretended not to see me. I get thrown out for having unprotected sex ONCE and he was cheating on my mom with a 20-something year old? Anyway, the irony of hypocrisy got my goat. And before you get any ideas, the only thing I’m judging his girlfriend for is her taste in men. Ugh. Not a great morning after finding out that Finn is still mad at me about cheating on him nearly a year ago. As if I haven’t suffered enough for that as it is. So, he’s making me doubt whether I even want to rejoin Glee. I can’t sit around all year facing judgmental looks and sad eyes.”

“Finn’s having a pity party. Just ignore him,” Dave suggested.

Kurt said, “If you haven’t truly apologized. Do that, and then don’t re-engage with him. Don’t feel sorry for him. Don’t give into the puppy eyes or helpless act. You already said you have a goal to get out of Lima. Finn doesn’t have any goals right now. Find someone who does. Or stay single. You two aren’t right for each other, at least not right now. He cheated on you too. It wasn’t just a one-way problem. Own up to your own bad choices and move on.”

Azimio elbowed her gently. “You have Mercedes and Tina and the three of us. I mean, how can you turn that down?”

“You’re right of course. A taken man and two gay men. I mean, how could I live with myself if I walked away from that offer?” She elbowed him back. “I know I’m having a pity party. At least I’m not fooling myself. It’s a ‘I hate hypocrisy’ pity party. My dad throws me out while he’s having an affair and Finn’s mad at me for cheating on him when he cheated on me twice. Now, I’ll grant you that I was I did was worse, but still. Pot calling the kettle black.”

“Is he trying to pressure you to tell him who it was?”

“Yeah.”

“Enough of that. I’ll deal with that if you want,” Kurt said. “We can go to my dad’s and talk to Carole too. He needs to stop his nonsense.”

“I’ll think about it. I’m not sure that he even told her that the baby was his. I’m pretty sure that he didn’t. But I feel better. Thanks for letting me gripe.”

“No problem,” Dave said. “We all need it sometime.”

Azimio said, “If you’re going to hang around with us, we’re going to need some kind of proof of loyalty.”

“What are you talking about, Z?”

“We can’t let her in on our super secret plans to overthrow the social order at the school if she can’t be trusted.”

“Oh, this I have to know,” she said.

“Nuh uh. Not yet,” Azimio said. “Are you rejoining the Cheerios?”

“I guess that depends on whether Coach Sue will take me back. She kicked me off for getting pregnant.”

Kurt said, “She could infiltrate from the girls’ side in a way that Mercedes and Tina can’t.”

“A mole,” Dave added.

“What on earth are you three talking about?”

Dave’s phone pinged. “Dad says the food is ready.”

They turned back and went back the same way they had come.

“What do you want as proof of my loyalty?”

“You have to take your mom up on the cooking lessons.”

“That’s it?”

“A year ago, being forced to spend time with me in would have been enough to send you running.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not that girl anymore. Done and done. I need to learn to cook anyway and Mom says your food is good.”

“Okay, so we’re staging a slow coup,” Dave started explaining their plan. “We’re slowly teaching the willing jocks how to be decent human beings and we could use your help. You can encourage the Cheerios to either break up with or not put out for the guys who act like spoiled children.”

“Well, that would be most of them.”

“Exactly. So, Azimio got a bunch of them to take Home Ec this spring.”

Her eyebrows shot up and she stopped dead in her tracks and looked at Azimio. “Seriously?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Well, good for you. I’m in. I’m sick of guys who are old enough to drive acting like kids. So, what’s the plan?”

“It’s a work in progress. We want the guys who don’t treat their girlfriends well to end up without girlfriends and we want the nice guys to end up getting girlfriends. We want the reign of top jock as the top of the social ladder to end.”

“So, you want to topple Finn?”

Kurt answered, “What we actually want is for Finn to grow up, stop being a homophobe, and be a decent human being. He can stay a the top if he changes his ways.”

“I see.”

“The anti-bullying coup worked in the fall. The teach-the-jocks-to-cook plan progressed well in the spring. We just need to keep moving forward.”

“This should be fun. I need a diversion if I have to be single. I’m in.”

Dave said, “You can be the paragon single girl that takes the stance that girls don’t need a boyfriend who is a child. Asking their parents for money to take girls out on dates is out. Guys who work and take care of themselves is in.”

Azimio added, “But the girls need to step it up too. Don’t act like the guys should always pay. Money doesn’t grown on trees and girls can get jobs too.”

Dave said, “And smart is in too. Making good grades is sexy.”

“Got it. Respect. Financial equality. Maturity. Studiousness. Sounds like a lot of single people,” she laughed.

“Maybe. But it might be better than a bunch of heartbroken girls because their guy moved on to greener, more willing pastures. You said something about helping girls learn about sexuality. Maybe Azimio should start a similar group for straight guys. I’m pretty sure most of them don’t know anything besides stick it in, get off, and leave.”

“Oh, my God, Kurt!”

“Well, you tell me. You’re around more girls than I am, but I spent enough time on the Cheerios this year to hear more than my fair share of stories of being left ‘wanting’ for a lack of better term.”

“It’s true,” she said. “A lot of the guys just get off and leave the girls hanging. Kurt’s right, Azimio. You should start a guys club and teach them how to satisfy their women. I can try asking around to see which of the guys the girls feel do a good job of it to help you out if you want. There’s got to be some manuals somewhere on it too.”

They were all laughing, but stopped talking because of how close to the picnic area they were. Paul and Judy looked up.

Judy said, “Well, that walk seems to have done you some good.”

Quinn laughed, “It definitely did.”

They all sat down and passed the food around and filled their plates. Once everyone had their food, they all started to eat.

Quinn said, “Everything is really good.”

“Told you,” Judy laughed.

Quinn looked at Kurt and winked, “I’ve decided to take Kurt up on the cooking lessons offer.”

Judy smiled, “Excellent. We’ll just need to work out a time.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The guys helped Paul get the boat secured before they took Quinn and left Paul and Judy to go out to dinner on their own.

“So, do you want to join us this afternoon and evening until your mom comes back or do you want me to take you home?”

“Well, actually how about the two of us go to my house and Azimio and Dave can go back home. We can meet them later.”

“Okay.” Kurt drove to Quinn’s and Dave got in the driver’s seat and went home.

Quinn unlocked the door and they went inside. “I want you to help me redecorate. I’m not that pre-teen girl that picked out the stuff in my room. My mom just kept all of my stuff in storage during the divorce proceedings and when she got this place, she just had the movers bring it all here.”

“Okay.” He followed her into her room.

“I don’t want to spend a lot of money, but I want a complete overhaul. I want you to go shopping with me too, if you’re willing. Dave and Azimio can even come if you want. They can carry the bags for us.”

Kurt laughed. “Dave’s actually a decent shopper. More like a hunter, but with a decent level of skill.”

Quinn laughed. “You’re a lot more fun than I had imagined.”

“The same goes for you.” He looked around the room. “Well, this room isn’t very large, so I would go with built-in bookcases around the window. I can see that your window faces the backyard, but you don’t have a fence. I’d go with really good blinds and sheers. That way in the daytime, you’ll get a lot of light, but no one can see in, and at night you’ll get complete coverage blocking anyone from seeing in. ”

“Sounds good.”

“I’d go with a bold accent color on the closet wall, since not much of the wall shows. It won’t overload the room with too much color, but it will keep it from being plain. I’d paint the shelving white to match the doors and trim.”

“Sounds reasonable.”

“Is that bed frame an antique or family heirloom?”

“Nope. It came from the store like this about 6 years ago, but I don’t want to keep it.”

“Dave’s pretty good at woodworking stuff and has the tools. He could modify it and make it more modern and paint it white like the shelving.”

“Maybe.”

“I don’t see a desk.”

“I need to get one.”

“We can look online at Ikea. As for color, I’d go with something solid for your comforter or quilt. Then pick a paint color that is complementary and that can be the accent color for throw pillows. You’ll only need a quart of paint for that wall.”

“Do you think Dave could build the shelves?”

“Yes.”

“I also want some kind of comfortable chair.”

“That will take more time. You’ll have to actually sit in chairs. TJ Maxx usually has really cool chairs. You should pick the chair before you pick the accent color for the wall. TJ Maxx has nice pillows too. Or we could just make new covers for the pillows you have.”

“I can’t sew.”

“I can teach you.”

“I don’t see a dresser.”

“I put it in the closet. I don’t have many clothes anymore. The ones I had before don’t suit me. I got rid of a lot of them already. I need a new look, but I don’t want a ton of clothes. I want to be able to get some basics and start adding when I find things I love.”

“Do you read much?”

“Some, but of course, there’s always a lot of reading with schoolwork. My books are in those boxes that I haven’t unpacked. Along with other stuff I haven’t unpacked. Stuff from when I was younger that I have to figure out what to do with.”

“Once you get some shelving, you can unpack the boxes. Some good lighting will be needed too. Do you have a budget?”

“Not really, but I don’t want to spend a lot. I have two years left of high school. I just don’t want the feeling I have with this stuff.”

“Okay. Let’s go out to TJ Maxx to start with the chair. A lot of the room will depend on that as far as colors go. If you find one you like, we can have Dave and Azimio meet us out there and bring it back.”

“Sure.”

“Unless you don’t want to go today.”

“No, I’m good. I need to get started. Being in here makes me unhappy. Can you help me take this headboard off? I just want to put it in the garage. My mom can do whatever she wants to with it.”

“Sure. Do you have some tools?” Kurt got down on his hands and knees to look. “I’ll need a pair of pliers and a good-sized Phillips head screwdriver.”

Quinn left the room and came back a few minutes later with a toolbox. “This is all we’ve got.”

Kurt took the headboard off, put it in the garage, and Quinn put the tools back before they headed out.

“Actually, get a notebook so we can take measurements before we leave.”

Quinn came back into the garage with a notebook and pencil. Kurt took the measurements of the headboard and then went back to Quinn’s room. He used his phone to take a picture, then made a quick sketch of the wall with the window and put all of the measurements on the drawing. He took a photo of the baseboard in the room as well.

“We’ll need to bring back a bunch of those paint color cards to find the right white to match the trim. We can bring back color cards of potential colors for the others walls and the accent wall too.”

“Sounds good. I’m not ruining any plans you had am I? I should have asked that first. I’m sorry. I’ve just been avoiding being in here and when we started talking this afternoon, the three of you did such a good job of cheering me up. I came up with the idea of you helping me get out of my rut.”

“Nope. You’re not messing up any plans. Our plans are for Tuesday. The shop is closed tomorrow except for emergency tow calls.”

“Did you get all of the measurements you needed?”

“I did. TJ Maxx?”

“Sure.”


	16. Chapter 16

“I don’t know why, but I just love this one. It’s so not me, but it’s fun and it is me. I’m getting this one.” She had chosen a chair that was a slightly oversized, modern combination of a wingback chair and a cushioned roll arm chair. It was upholstered in a deep teal colored fabric with a brightly colored, large floral pattern with butterflies.

Kurt laughed. “It will be a fun piece. I admit that it’s not what I would have expected you to pick, but you said you want it to be completely different and have a different feel. So, this one it is.” His phone pinged and he checked it. “Dave and Azimio will be here in 15 minutes. They’re bringing Azimio’s truck and my Navigator. We’ll put your chair in the Navigator and the wood in the truck. Let’s go look at the quilts.”

They grabbed four quilts that looked like the might match the chair and carried them over to it and looked at each one.

“The paler teal one for sure. I’ve decided I’m going to paint the walls light yellow like this,” she pointed to part of a butterfly on the chair. “And the accent wall will be teal like the chair. White headboard white and a white desk.”

“We should go to Goodwill before we go to Lowe’s. You might find a desk that just needs painted or even a headboard that we could paint white and not have to make one. And sometimes they have great vintage sheet sets. Since yellow isn’t super popular right now, you might find some from the 70s and early 80s that are in good shape.”

Quinn laughed. “You’re having way too much fun with this.”

Kurt winked at her. “Just wait until we go clothes shopping.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Kurt, that’s awful!”

He got up off his knees. “Just give me a chance to explain. The top is awful. It’s straight to the recycling center for the top. But the frame and legs are in excellent condition and it’s only $10 because the top is such a disaster. We get it outside, we take the top off and leave it in Azimio’s truck for him to take to the recycling center. We buy new wood to make a new top or we buy a ready-made tabletop at Lowe’s. It will still be much cheaper than buying a new wood desk. And buying new legs and building a sturdy frame is expensive and hard to do.”

“Alright. You’re the boss and I’m trying to not spend a lot of money. I do like the vintage sheets, the chair, and the headboard. Alright boys, grab the God-awful ugly desk and let’s go pay for this stuff.”

Azimio and Dave laughed at her and picked the desk up and carried it to the front. Kurt picked up the headboard. She grabbed floor lamp she had picked out and followed them. She went back and grabbed the chair she picked out for the desk, while they waited in line. She paid for everything, they loaded everything into the two vehicles, and they went to Lowe’s.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt and Quinn went to the paint department and picked up about 40 color cards and the painting supplies they needed before going to the blinds section. Once they had what they needed, they went to pick out a tabletop. Azimio and Dave were back in the corner getting the wood cut, which is where the two of them headed to meet up with them.

“I’ll go find the right trim and meet you there,” Kurt said.

Quinn walked up to Dave and Azimio and said, “He’s a ball of energy if you give him a project, isn’t he?”

Azimio laughed at her. “Yeah. He’s something. That’s for sure.”

“I’ve been home a month and made no progress. In three hours, he’s got the whole thing planned out and we’ve almost got all of the stuff to give my room a complete makeover.”

Dave smiled. “He’ll have fun taking you shopping for clothes too, if you’ll let him.”

“Oh, I already asked him.”

“Good. That will give him something to look forward to. And don’t worry, he’s not bossy.”

Azimio snorted.

“Well, of course, he’s bossy, but not in a mean way. He like has this ability to get you to focus and just do the task, but nicely.”

“It’s fine. If I hadn’t asked him, I’d have probably still been sitting in a room I hate all summer.”

Kurt came back with a long piece of trim.

“What’s that for?” Quinn asked.

“To finish the top of the shelving so it looks like it was built in – like crown molding.”

“Whatever you say,” she winked at him.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“This is the right white,” Quinn said. “And I like this teal color for the closet wall.” She walked across the room and looked at the cards taped to the wall. “And this yellow.”

“Done, done, and done.” He grabbed the three color cards she had chosen. “Let’s go get them so we can get started on painting the wood. They’ll be done sanding the headboard and desk frame soon. We can all get started painting as soon as we get back with the paint.”

Quinn and Kurt told the other two what they were doing and came back about 45 minutes later with three pizzas from Little Caesar’s and the cans of paint they needed. None of them were wearing good clothes since they had been out hiking, but they took their shoes off to save them from getting splatted with paint. They sat down at the dining table and ate the pizzas before they got started.

“We taped your room up while you were gone.”

“Oh, perfect. Good thinking. We’re all going to paint the boards for the shelves first, so tomorrow morning we can paint the other sides.   We can paint the walls tomorrow morning too.”

“I’m going to go throw those sheets in the washer,” Quinn said. She came back after she had done it. “I’ll do the quilt next.”

“While the walls dry after the first coat, we can go to the fabric store. There’s a big sale tomorrow. We can get fabric for your throw pillows.”

“You’re going to teach me how to make them, right?”

“Sure. You’ll have to come over for that. It would be a lot easier than bringing everything over here.”

“I can do that. Maybe Wednesday.”

“That will work. You’ll need to wash, dry, and iron the fabric before we sew the pillow covers anyway.”

“Okay, whatever you say, boss.”

Kurt just shook his head and laughed. “You could just come stay with us for the next few days to escape the paint smell in your room. It shouldn’t be awful because we got the no VOC paint, but still. You can sleep in one of the spare rooms.”

“That would work. I was going to sleep on the couch. I’ll ask my mom later.”

They packed up the leftovers and got started on painting everything, which is what Paul and Judy found them doing when Paul brought Judy home. She opened the garage door when she didn’t see anyone in Quinn’s room or the kitchen.

“Oh, hey Mom. I, um, got some help with my bedroom redec project.”

“I see that,” she laughed. “What are you all making?”

“Built-in bookshelves on the window wall,” Kurt said as he and Azimio kept painting the shelves they were working on.

Quinn said, “I’m repainting this headboard. And Dave’s painting the top of what will be my desk. We left my new chair in the living room so there will be more room to paint the walls tomorrow. Yellow and a teal accent wall.”

“I’m going to go look at the chair. I didn’t turn the light on when I walked through and I didn’t actually look at it.” She went in the living room and turned the light on. She looked at it a little strangely.

Quinn saw her. “I know. I know. It’s not something I would have chosen before. But I wanted something completely different and it’s really comfortable. The new quilt is in the dryer. I’m recovering my throw pillows too.”

“So, it’s a complete overhaul.”

“It is. The new me.”

“Well, as long as you like it, it’s fine with me. Where did you find the unusual chair?”

“TJ Maxx. Got the quilt there too. The rest we got at Goodwill and the wood and painting stuff at Lowe’s.”

“Good. Good. As long as you’re happy.”

“I really like it. I’m going to go back and paint. I might go sleep over with the guys.”

“Okay, honey.” When Quinn went back into the garage, Judy shrugged her shoulders and looked at Paul and laughed. “I think she’s been struck by the whirlwind known as Kurt.”

Paul laughed.

“She’s been hum-hawing about her room for a month. And boom! The whole thing is planned out and she’s actually doing it.”

“She just needed someone to do it with her. It’s hard to start a project like that alone, especially if she doesn’t actually know how to do any of it.”

“I was just going to hire someone to do whatever she decided on, but this is better. She’s spent some time with Mercedes and Tina, but that’s it. I’ve never let her have guys over before. But this time, I think these three are good for her. Azimio makes her laugh. None of them are going to hit on her or make her feel bad about the weight she hasn’t lost yet or any of that kind of stuff. And she’ll learn some skills she didn’t have before.”

“She’s welcome to stay over. We’ve got plenty of space.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

By Monday evening, everyone’s arms were tired. They had gotten the four walls painted with two coats of paint. The headboard was painted, as was the desk, and it had been put together. They were standing in the garage admiring their work.

“Well, you were right. The desk looks great, and it was cheap. And I like this headboard. It’s very simple, but it goes with the feel of the room. Can you all come back Wednesday to assemble the bookshelves and install them?”

“Dave can drive to your place when he gets off and I’ll bring your car. I’m not sure when Azimio gets off.”

“It’s not always a set time unless I say I can’t stay past a certain time, but usually by 6:00. I’ll just shower and come over afterwards.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Are you coming home with us again or staying here?”

“I’ll just go with you. Thanks for letting me ride with you to Columbus tomorrow. Gina is going to pick me up at the movie theater.”

“Grab your stuff and let’s get going then. I’m ready to shower and go to sleep.”

“So, does that mean you’re not going to tell me your ideas for the closet?”

Kurt grabbed her and started tickling her. “Closet? You have no closet. At least not until I get a shower get this paint off of me.”

“Fine, fine. We’ll talk about the closet in a little while.” She wiggled free. “Let me get my stuff. I’ll be right out.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Tuesday on the drive to Columbus, Kurt gave Quinn his plan for her closet for to examine while they were driving.

“I really like this. Will it be expensive?”

“About $60.”

“That’s not bad. Installation fee?”

“Umm. I think you get the step-sister-in-law discount, like the painting fee and interior design consultation fees.”

Quinn laughed. “I like the discount.”

“I’m sure,” he teased. “So, we’ll take down that old-fashion single rod across the closet, pull the dresser out, paint the inside white, paint the dresser white, and we’ll install the wire shelving after the walls are dry. Then we can put the dresser back in.”

“Well, I can get to the part where the shelves get installed on my own. I’ll work on that tomorrow while you two are working. You can just drive my car to work tomorrow and fix it.”

“Oh, so now, I’m providing valet service for your automotive repair work on top of fixing your car and being your interior designer?”

“You left out my upcoming partner in crime for a shopping trip. I want to go somewhere besides Lima. I’ll pay for the gas, of course.”

“Kurt took me to a place where I sold a bunch of my stuff and I got a few things there, and then we went to an outlet mall.”

“Ooh. Take me, please?”

“Okay.”

“You are a pushover.”

“You are beautiful and I like to shop. What can I say?”

“You think I’m beautiful?”

“You were always pretty. But now that you’ve come back, you’ve changed so much and your insides and outside match now. And yes, you’re beautiful.”

“That’s it. It’s a done deal. You’re definitely my new step-brother-in-law. I always thought having a brother would be nice and now I’ve gotten two. Handy ones too. Are you two going to scare away any potential suitors like good big brothers?”

“I will give the guy my best ‘Bitch, please!’ glare, followed by my ‘As if…’ once over. Dave can flex his biceps. He’ll run if he has any ill intentions towards you.”

Quinn cracked up. “I’m keeping you two.”

“I always thought having siblings would be nice. It hasn’t worked out quite the way I had hoped so far, but you have potential. You’re not going to turn Queen B on me and ditch me when school starts are you?”

“Nope. I’ve decided that even if Coach Sue lets me back on the Cheerios that I’m picking my friends based on who I want to spend time with, not where they fall on the social ladder. Picking from the top got me nowhere. Did any of the Cheerios come to visit me? Nope. Mercedes came. Tina came with her when she could. And they’re your best friends, so I decided to get to know you and they were both right. You’re fun and funny. And Dave’s just a big teddy bear.”

“Is that what they said about me?” Dave asked.

“Umm hmm. They said I’d be surprised how sweet the two of you are together. And they were right – about all of it.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Quinn met them back at the movie theater at 8:00 that night.

“So, are your butts sore from seating in theater seats all day?” she teased.

“Not exactly. I’m stiff though. I’m used to being able to move around during a movie and when the whole theater is full, there’s no room to move around at all. It was really spectacular though. A few things didn’t follow along with the books, but for the most part, I think it was pretty true to the story and the photography and the artistry were just phenomenal.”

“He hadn’t seen the movies before.”

“Ah. So, a complete surprise.”

“Definitely. It was worth it, even though I’m stiff. I’m stretching before we drive back. Give me a minute.” After he stretched, he got in the driver’s seat. “Any requests before we head to the highway?”

“Not from me,” she said.

Dave asked, “Did you have a good time with Gina?”

“Yeah. We just stayed at the center all day. She had her baby a month ago. She just finished up her finals last week, like McKinley. She can stay at the center for another month for her follow-up care and counseling. Then, she’s going to Cincinnati to live with her grandma for her last year of high school. Her parents won’t take her back. So, she’s going to have to go to a third high school to finish.”

Kurt said, “I just don’t get it.”

“Trust me. You’re not the only one.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next morning, Kurt drove Quinn’s car to the shop and put it up on the lift when he got there.

“Hey, bud.”

“Hey, Dad. Did you have a nice holiday?”

“I did. I missed you though.”

“Azimio, Dave, and I are redoing Quinn’s room. We spent the day painting. It was fun.”

“So, you and Quinn are getting along?”

“Yep. She’s grown up a lot.”

“We found a place to take Finn for some counseling and some aptitude testing. Hopefully, we can get his head on straight.”

“Maybe. I’ll be pleasantly surprised when it happens.”

“You don’t sound very positive about the possibility.”

“I wouldn’t have thought that Quinn would want to be my friend a year ago, and if you had asked me then, I would have been seriously doubtful about it. Doesn’t change the fact that it happened. I’m just more of a realistic pessimist and then leaving myself open for positive things to surprise me. It works better than getting my hopes up all the time just to have them crushed.”

“I see.” He stepped under the car and looked around. “This Quinn’s car? I saw her name on the appointments list.”

“Yeah. I told her I would look it over for her. That’s why I came in early, so I’d be doing it off the clock. I don’t expect to be paid to look at my friend’s cars for them. I told her she’d need to pay for the parts.”

“Well, I’ll leave you to it.”

He worked on it until it was time for his shift to start. Once he was done for the day, he went back to fixing the last bit that he hadn’t finished that morning. He noticed that it has been washed and vacuumed when he pulled it back into the bay. “Hey, Puck?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you wash this car?” He finished up putting the Freon in.

“Oh, yeah. I got here a little early and I saw Quinn’s car and I thought I’d go ahead and wash it and vacuum it out before I clocked in.”

“Thanks. I’m just about done with it. I didn’t know you knew it was hers.”

“Oh, yeah. While you were gone Saturday, she took all of us out front and showed it off. She was super excited.”

“Well, I’ve fixed it up and it’s good to go. Thanks for saving me the time of washing it. I’m taking it back over to her now.” Kurt walked toward the back area to take his coveralls off.

“How’s she doing?”

“She seems to be doing okay. She says there’s up days and down days. But she’s at peace with her decision it seems.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah. She wasn’t ready to be a 15-year old mother. I’m not sure anyone is. But she seems ready to put her life back in order and move forward, which is all that can be done I suppose.”

“Yeah.”

Kurt walked toward the car. “Thanks again for doing that for me.”

“You’re welcome. See you tomorrow.”

Kurt nodded.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Wow. You even washed it,” Quinn said when she came outside.

“That was Puck’s doing. He saw it in the lot when he got to work and he washed it and vacuumed it for you.”

“That was nice.”

“He’s a much nicer person than he was when you left. I know you haven’t spent much time around him, but he sincerely apologized me to me for being an jackass to me and we’ve reached the early friendship stage.”

Quinn laughed.

“He’s a hard worker and does his job right. That counts for a lot with me. He’s never been disrespectful of my position being higher than his at the shop. He was supportive of Dave when he came out and he’s been really decent to me all year. He’s really changed. He’s becoming someone I could be good friends with.”

“Wonders never cease, huh?”

“Well, look at Azimio. He acts like we’d been pals for ages before this school year. When Dave came out to him, he was like, ‘I know, dude.’ and went on like nothing had happened. It’s like the Azimio I knew last year never existed. And I guess he didn’t. He was a lowly freshman who was too chicken to stand up for what was right, but he got over it and he’s like the anti-bullying champion.”

“Bullying the bullies,” Quinn laughed.

“Maybe persuasively convincing the bullies.”

“Whatever. Come on inside. What do we need to do?”

“Measure the closet very carefully, so we can go get the shelving. They cut it there for free with a pneumatic cutter, but we have to have the measurements right.”

“Got it.”

By the time Dave got there, they were ready to go to Lowe’s. Dave stayed behind to wait for Azimio. When Quinn and Kurt got back, the two of them were assembling the bookshelves.

Judy came home with Chinese food for everyone and they stopped and ate quickly.

When everyone was almost done eating, Judy asked, “How are things coming?”

“We’re not ready for the reveal yet,” Quinn answered. “Probably tomorrow or the next day.”

“Oh.”

“I still have those boxes I never unpacked and stuff to go through. You can see once I get it all done.”

“Alright. You seem pleased so far.”

“I am. Definitely. We’re going back to work. No peeking.”

Judy laughed. “I’ll go in my room and read.”

“Thanks for dinner, Mrs. Fabray,” Azimio said.

“Please, please call me Judy.”

“I’ll try,” he said.

Kurt and Dave thanked her as well and followed Quinn back into the garage.

“It’s time to move them to your room and start the installation process,” Dave said.

“Let’s do it. I’m really excited.”

They four of them moved the two bookshelves into the room and attached the top board that joined them. Once they stood them up and got them in place, Dave mounted each one to the wall, while the other three held the units in place. Once the two sidepieces were in place, Kurt and Quinn held the center shelves that went under the window in place for Dave to fasten in from the sides.

The last thing they had to do was remount the trim. They had removed the trim on the small section of the closet wall and the long wall to the right of the shelving in order to install the shelves flush to the walls. They measured carefully and cut the two side baseboard pieces with a miter saw and reattached them to the walls. They remounted the baseboard piece that had been along the wall that now had the shelving to the front of the shelving unit. The last thing to was to put the top trim piece along the top flush with the ceiling so the shelving had a finished look to it.

As soon as Dave had put the last finishing nail in, Quinn said, “It’s perfect. I love it. You three are awesome. And painting the wall behind it white was the right thing to do. It makes it look like the wall is part of the shelving. And if I decide to repaint the walls, the bookshelves won’t need to be removed to do it since that part would just stay white.”

“Let’s get the headboard mounted to the frame and move the bed to where it’s going,” Kurt said.

Quinn and Kurt brought it in and held it in place while Azimio and Dave fastened it to the frame. The four of them picked the bed up and carefully moved it.

“Chair?” she asked.

“Yep. We’ll grab that and Azimio and Dave can go get the desk.”

Ten minutes later, they had all of the furniture in the room. The accent wall with the closet was on the left, the back wall had the shelves and the window, the bed was along the wall to the right, the arm chair was diagonal in the front right corner with the 5-light floor lamp behind it, and the desk was along the front wall. Kurt grabbed the desk chair from the garage and scooted it up to the desk.

“What do you think?”

“It’s perfect. All that’s left is the throw pillows and recovering the padded seat on the desk chair.”

“And some art of some sort,” Kurt said. “Now that everything is in the room, you can get a feel for what you’d like to hang on the walls.”

Azimio said, “I hate to run, but I need to get home. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow afternoon, so my brother wants me to come in as soon as the sun is up.”

“Thanks for your help Azimio. I really appreciate it.”

He nodded. “You’re welcome. See ya.”

“Dave and I can do the closet while you start to put the stuff in the boxes on the shelves.”

“Thanks.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

A couple of hours later, the shelving was up in the closet and Quinn had opened up all of the boxes in her room and put what she was keeping on the shelves.

“The closet is great. If you start a home redec business, I’ll write up a raving review of your work.”

Kurt smiled. “What are you doing with all that stuff on your bed?”

“I don’t want that stuff.”

“Well, if you pack up the clothes, you can try to sell them when we go shopping. The other stuff, you can box up and we can donate when we go out tomorrow afternoon.”

“Where are we going tomorrow afternoon?”

“To the fabric store because we didn’t have time to go on Monday like I thought we would.”

“Right.”

“So, have the chair cushion, one of the pillow shams, and the measurements of your throw pillows ready when you come meet me.”

“I can do that. I need to put another coat of paint on the dresser tomorrow morning. I’ll be able to put my clothes and the dresser back in the closet on Friday. Maybe there’s a poster at Michael’s or somewhere that I could frame and hang over the bed. I’d like to get a bulletin board to put over my desk.”

“Okay. Bring the paint card from your wall tomorrow too.”

“Got it.” She typed the list into her phone as she was reciting the things she needed. “Yellow paint card, chair cushion, measurements for the seat of the desk chair, throw pillows, pillow sham cover, and the boxes of stuff I’m donating.”

“Yep. I’m going to go home and take a very long, hot shower and hope that there are no tire rotations on my list of things to do tomorrow.”

Quinn laughed. “Good luck with that. You work in a tire shop.”

“I can dream, can’t I?”

“Sure. You two are amazing. I can’t thank you enough. I love the way it looks and we’re not even done. But it’s going to be perfect. Completely different and wonderful.”

Kurt walked towards the door. “I’m glad you like it. I’ll see you tomorrow at the fabric store.”

Dave followed him out and drove them back home.

“She seems happy with how things are turning out.”

“Umm hmm. I know I told you that she apologized, but seeing is believing. She’s been really nice all week to all of us. And she seemed really stuck in a rut. She just needed a push. I didn’t pick anything out. I suggested she start with a chair and that we do the built-in shelves because that room is so small. Once she had just a little nudge and someone to be with that wasn’t judging her, she made all of the decisions quickly.”

“You’re like in your element. Layout, color, and practicality. Not that I think you should change your mind about performing, but you could do something like this as well.”

“I could. I do like it a lot. I’m not sure that I would want to continue to be the one to do the physical labor of installing the shelves and the painting and stuff, but designing everything is fun. I’d still enjoy doing some of the work, like maybe the sewing.”

“Well, you’re really good at it.”

“The shelves look really good. I’m definitely impressed.”

“Thanks. Is there anything you’d change about our room?”

“Probably the only thing would be the wallpaper. It makes it hard to find anything that we could hang over the futon that would look good. I know you had a flag up there before, but you took everything down off the walls that hadn’t been something you had chosen. So, I’d probably paint that wall the same color as the rest of the room or maybe paint it a pale warm gray that would look good with the blue. But it’s not bothering me or making me dislike the room or anything.”

“That hot shower you’re planning…”

“Yeah?”

“Any chance I could join you?”

“Definitely.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Paul came out of the den to talk to them when they came in the door. “How’s it going?”

“I believe the reveal will be Friday evening. Maybe we can plan for dessert and have the big reveal afterwards. You could have dinner with Judy and Quinn and we can come as soon as we get done with dinner with Burt, Carole, and Finn.”

“That sounds like a good plan. I’ll see what Judy thinks.”

“Just let us know,” Kurt said. “I’m exhausted. I’m sorry to run off, but I went in early to work on Quinn’s car and I’ve been going non-stop for 16 hours, except when we stopped briefly to eat dinner.”

“It’s fine. I understand. I just have one more thing to ask you. Judy said you didn’t leave the bill for Quinn’s car.”

“Oh, we got busy working. It’s actually in her glove box.”

“I’ll tell Judy. Go on up to bed.”

Kurt nodded and headed toward the stairs.

“You and Quinn are getting along, then?”

“Yeah. We’re fine, Dad. She and I talked before we even started this project with her. Both of us are fine with you and Judy dating. Really.”

“I’m glad. That will make things easier.”

“I wish Finn was as easy to get along with as Quinn.”

“I know, I know. I’m going to go back to my game. ‘Night.”

“Night.” Dave headed up, hoping that Kurt had waited for him.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt was lying on the floor on his back when Dave opened the door. “Oh, good. You’re here.”

“Why are you on the floor?”

“I’m waiting for you.”

Dave laughed. “Well, I’m here and you’re still lying there.”

“That’s because I’m too tired to get up now that I’m down here.”

“Is that so?”

“It is.”

Dave moved so that he was standing was facing Kurt and reached down. “There are lots of kisses up here for you.”

Kurt sat up and grabbed Dave’s hands and let him pull him to standing. He stepped forward and leaned against Dave. “Let’s shower before I really can’t stand.” Kurt started undressing as he walked toward the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, they were lying in bed.

“How about a massage?”

“Anytime. You can just pet me if you’re too tired to rub my muscles.”

“How about some of both?”

“Anything. It just feels good when you touch me.” Kurt rolled onto his side and wrapped his hand around Dave’s neck, gently pulled him toward him, and kissed him. “I love you. When you touch me, it’s like all the stressful stuff just goes away. I’m too tired to explain it, but it’s the best feeling.” He kissed Dave again and scooted closer and splayed out half on top of him. “This is good too. Just like this. Touching in so many places.” He got comfortable and took a deep breath.

“I love you too.” He wrapped his arm around Kurt and ran his fingers along Kurt’s shoulder. “This is perfect. We’ll just sleep, okay?”

“Mmm hmm.” Kurt was barely awake. “Love you.”

Dave smiled. “You too, Fancy, so much.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Sorry to change the plan at the last minute,” Quinn said.

“No problem. I hadn’t left yet, so I just came straight here.”

She had a trash bag in a shopping cart and they went back to the posters and prints. “I searched online for butterfly prints and I think the ones I saw will look good, but I want to make sure. They’re 12x12 prints, so they should be in this section. There are three different ones.”

Kurt found two and Quinn found the other. She pulled the trash bag down enough for them to look at them with the chair cushion and the pillow sham.

“I think they’ll look great. Above the bed, right?”

“Yes. I’ll just get white frames here and a bulletin board too. We can hang them tonight, maybe.” She put all three prints in the cart and started walking toward the frames. She picked up three and put them in the cart. “Now a bulletin board.”

“You could go with a sheet of stainless steel. And those silver frames instead.” He pointed to some to the right.

“How would that be better?”

“It’s cool looking. You can write on it with dry erase markers. You can use magnets and magnetic frames on it.”

“Intriguing. Show me.”

“Let’s go look in person. Lowe’s is just down the street. Put the prints behind the frames. If you don’t like the stainless sheet metal option, you can come back and get the bulletin board and the white frames. If you like it, you can get the silver frames.”

“That’s fine. I need a new laundry basket anyway.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“You were right. The silver looks cool. I’m going to get silver desk lamp. It coordinates everything with the floor lamp and the colored shades. The frames and the prints and everything – they all look really good together. Now, I just have to get the dresser back in here. Then I can sleep in my bed tonight.”

Kurt helped her get the dresser and the drawers back in her room and into the closet. “Why don’t you put the stuff in the dresser and I’ll hang the stuff on the racks. I see you already put your shoes in.”

“Yeah. And this laundry basket fits really well. I’m going to get a couple of those long, narrow storage boxes for the top shelf of the closet. I can keep my off-season shoes in one and my blanket in the other.”

“Good idea.”

“I’ll get them when I go out tomorrow. I’m determined to be finished tomorrow and start enjoying my summer vacation.” She heard the washer beep. “Be right back. I need to move the fabric to the dryer.”

When she came back, Kurt said, “I think that’s it, unless you have more clothes somewhere else?”

“I don’t. That’s why I need to go shopping. I’m not just going to wear my Cheerios uniform everywhere this year, even if I get back on the squad. I’m going to change before I leave school unless I’m coming straight home. I’m not going to just be a Cheerio anymore. Most of the clothes I had were from junior high. I didn’t really go out and get any school clothes for high school after I went to Cheerios camp and Coach Sue informed us that we would be wearing our uniforms to school every day all year long. I just had some leggings and lounge pants, t-shirts and hoodies. And of course my dresses to wear to church. I bought a few things when Coach Sue kicked me off the Cheerios last fall. I kept those. I left the clothes I bought when I was pregnant at the center for the girls who come who don’t have the resources to get any clothes.”

“We can go shopping this weekend or next weekend. Just let me know. Is there anything else you need to do here before we go home and I show you how to make the pillow covers?”

“The chair. We need to take the seat with us.”

“Grab a screwdriver so we can take the padded part off and take it with us.”

Quinn left and came back with one and took the seat off. “That’s it. Let me grab the fabric from the dryer and you grab the throw pillows.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“One chair seat re-covered. Next, throw pillows. Tell me what to do.”

“Fold over a narrow section on the end and iron it in place and then fold it over again and iron it again. They do the same thing to the other end.”

Quinn followed his directions. “Like this?”

“Exactly. Now, you just sew a straight line using the guide you can see on the sewing machine. You can go as slow as you need to.”

She sat down and sewed a straight line very slowly.

“Perfect. Now, do the other end.” He waited. “Now, we just wrap it around the pillow, centering the ends to make the flap, and then pin it on both sides, but just the overlapping pieces. Okay. Pull the pillow out and put more pins along the edges and sew a straight line down both sides.” He waited patiently while she sewed two lines very slowly. “Now, use the scissors and trim any fraying strings.” He waited again. “Now, turn it inside out and make sure to get it really flat and iron the seams, but not the ends.” He watched her do it carefully. “Okay, now put pins down the edge, and then sew a straight line down both sides again, using this line as a guide.” Once she was done, he said, “Now, turn it right side out again.”

“Oh, wow. It’s perfect. And the seams won’t fray when I wash them. I never knew that’s how you could keep that from happening.”

“It doesn’t work for everything, but for pillows and a lot of stuff it does. Put the pillow in.”

She put the pillow cover on. “It’s great. I get how to do it. I’ll go ahead and do the others. I’ll come get you if I need help.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Friday afternoon, Kurt went home, showered quickly, and grabbed a couple of things and headed to Quinn’s. He pulled up a little after 4:00. Quinn let him in.

“I have the iron and the ironing board waiting, like you asked. They’re in the kitchen.”

“Okay. Sit on the couch and close your eyes.”

She stepped back so he could get in, and then sat on the couch like he asked. He took what he had in his hand into her room. He went into the kitchen next and called out. “Don’t open your eyes until I say so.”

“Alright.”

Fifteen minutes later, he called for her to come down to her room. She walked in and saw the sheers.

“Oh, I love them. Where did you find those? The embroidered white butterflies are perfect. Just tell me how much I owe you for them.”

“I ordered them Monday. I brought you a housewarming present. It’s on your desk.”

She turned around and found four tissue paper wrapped flat objects that were fairly narrow and about the length of a sheet of paper. She unwrapped the first one and it said “Believe”. She opened the other three to find, “Love”, “Dream”, and “Smile”.

“These are really cool. Where did you find them?”

“Well, they’re actually wood and I got them at Michael’s when we went back to get the prints and frames. I spray painted them.”

“I had no idea they made metallic spray paint that actually made things look like metal.”

“I thought they’d look nice above your closet, where you could see them when you lie in bed or sit in your chair. I brought some removable double-sided mounting squares if you want to put them up. It’s okay if you don’t like them.”

“Don’t think that. I do really like them. Let’s put them up. I’ll go get the step stool. You can put the squares on. Look behind the door.” She left and came back with the step stool. “I’ll sit on the bed and boss you around this time.”

Kurt laughed. “That’s fine. Which one first? I like the full-length mirror by the way. And the desk lamp and pencil holder.”

“‘Love’ first. Hold it halfway between the left end of the closet doorframe and the ceiling. Yeah, right there.” She waited for him to stick it in place. “Put ‘Believe’ on the other end. Up, down a bit. Right there. You’ll have to have the other two ready at the same time.” She waited until he was ready. ‘Dream’ to the left and ‘Smile’ to the right.”

“Like this?”

“Yes.”

He stuck them in place. Above the closet door, it read: Love – Dream – Smile – Believe.

“Could I use the spray paint to paint the dresser drawer pulls and the closet door knobs?”

“Sure. I can bring it back with me tonight and you can do it whenever or I can do it when I come back later.”

“Either way. I’ve never spray painted anything. You can show me how and then I can do it.”

“So, are you ready for the reveal now?”

She got up off the bed and straightened it up. She grabbed the step stool and looked around. “It looks great to me. It’s like a whole new me and I feel happy in this room.”

“Excellent. That’s what matters.”

“I dropped off the stuff I wasn’t keeping, so it’s all gone and the clothes I’m going to try to sell are in my trunk. Open the closet and look up. I got the storage boxes. My boots are in the one on the right and my blanket is in the one on the left.”

“It looks like you’ve done everything. I’m going to get going because I have to go make dinner for my Dad, Carole, and Finn. We’ll be back for dessert about 7:30.” He followed her out of her room.

She put the step stool back in the laundry room. When she stepped back into the kitchen, she looked like she was going to cry. She took a deep breath and suppressed the tears. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

She stepped forward slightly. “Can I hug you?”

He reached out for her and she stepped into his arms. “You’re a great step-brother-in-law.”

He laughed. “I think I need a shorter title. I’d be glad to be your friend.” He let her go. “I’ll see you later.”

She walked him to the front door. He waved as he drove off.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt made chicken and veggie skewers to grill and bought Finn a pack of hot dogs and hot dog buns. He and Dave prepped the skewers and fired up the grill. Dave watched over the grill while Kurt made the riced cauliflower, long grain rice pilaf to go with them since his dad seemed to like the dish when he had made it before. He cut up nectarines and plums while the pilaf cooked.

Kurt took the ketchup, mustard, and relish and put it on the table next to the hot dog buns. Dave stacked all 8 grilled hot dogs on a plate and put them at Finn’s place at the table. He put all of the skewers on another plate and placed them in the center of the table. Kurt brought in the rice pilaf and the cut up fruit.

“Everything’s ready,” Kurt called out.

Carole was the first to come in. Finn was not far behind. Everyone sat down and waited for Burt. Once he came in, everyone served themselves and started to eat.

“These are good,” Burt said. “Grilled vegetables are pretty decent.”

“I’m glad you like them. I’ll probably make different types throughout the summer while the summer vegetables are in season.”

When Finn had finished eating all of the hot dogs, he stayed in his seat instead of trying to leave. “Can I do it now and then get up?” he asked Carole.

“You can do it now and then eat some fruit and then get up.”

“Fine. So, Mom made me write a paper this week. I have to share the five things I learned that were the most surprising. He pulled an index card out of his back pocket. One – people are born with their sexual orientations. Two – there is more that just gay and straight. The other most commonly mentioned sexual orientations were bisexual and asexual, and I learned what those mean. Bisexual people aren’t confused – they actually are attracted to men and women. Asexual people don’t feel sexually attracted to anyone. Three – about the same percentage of people are left-handed as the percentage of people who are LGBTQ+, which means there are about 60-70 LGBTQ+ students at McKinley. Four – the T is for transgender and that’s when someone’s physical body doesn’t represent the gender that they are, but no one really knows why it happens. It’s not like a genetic disorder or something. Five – there are people who are intersex, which means they were born with characteristics of both males and females or they have medical issues that I did not understand at all that make their genes say they are male, but their bodies look female, but with no female organs on the inside. This part was very, very confusing to me, but it was definitely the most surprising thing I read about. Some intersex people identify as male or female, but others consider themselves non-binary because they don’t feel like they’re just one or the other.”

Kurt said, “So, your research said that there are probably 60-70 LGBTQ+ students at McKinley and only two of us are out. That should tell you something really important.”

“What?”

Carole chided him. “Think, Finn.”

“Oh, that people don’t want other people to know.”

“Bingo.”

“If I get a say in this research, I’d like his next topic to be why the other people don’t want anyone to know. And for you to look up more statistics about bullying, suicide, and how teens’ parents react to finding out.”

Finn took the fruit he was told to eat and started eating it. “Look, I get it. The jocks at school have been jerks. We all did a lot of things we shouldn’t have. But you brought a lot of it on yourself. You act like you’re so much better than we are. You dress weird. You act weird. Even if being gay isn’t wrong or gross, it’s weird. You were the only one. You stuck out and you seemed to want to stick out. You were asking to be noticed and picked on.”

“The next topic I’d suggest is victim blaming.”

“Alright,” Carole said. “Finn, apologies don’t include pointing out why you think the other person was wrong. If you’re not ready to apologize and mean it, that’s okay, but telling Kurt that it was his fault that he was bullied is not an apology at all. So, drop it for now.”

“Fine. Can I get up now?”

“You know that you’re clearing the table. You can do that and then you can do the dishes. Once that’s done, you can watch TV or whatever.”

He got up and did what he was told.

When Finn was in the kitchen, Kurt said, “It’s a start. Thank you, Carole.”

“It’s my fault. I never talked to him about stuff like this. He got all of his information from his peers and it was inaccurate. I can’t make him like you or Dave, but I can make him learn the truth. Hopefully, once that happens, he’ll be able to understand the issues more clearly.”

“If you don’t need us to clean up, we’ll go ahead and take off. We’re supposed to be at Quinn’s at 7:30.”

Finn walked back in right as Kurt said that.

“Why are you going to Quinn’s?”

“We’re friends now. Dave and Azimio and I helped redo her new bedroom.”

“What do you mean?”

“Dave and Azimio built bookshelves that I designed. All four of us painted them, assembled them, and installed them. We painted a desk and a headboard. We redid her closet with the wire shelving like the shelving in the basement closet. I took her shopping to get a new chair, bedding, fabric, and stuff to hang on her walls. Stuff like that.”

“God, now you’re stealing Quinn. When will you be happy? When you’ve taken all of my friends?”

“Finn, sit down!” Carole demanded.

He flopped into his chair. “Fine. I’m sitting.”

“I’m not out to steal your friends. I’m not sure who you think I’ve stolen from you.”

“The football guys. Azimio, Dave, Puck. Now, Quinn.”

“You’re being ridiculous. As far as I know, you and Azimio were never close friends. Dave either. Now, Puck yes. But he and I work together at the shop every afternoon because he comes in before I leave now with our new summer schedule. We play video games with him and Azimio sometimes, along with Mike and Artie. You know, he got assigned to Paul at the camp-out last fall and he took Paul up on the offer of a dad-like figure since he doesn’t have one. I don’t know what they talk about because it’s none of my business. But I didn’t steal him from you. And Quinn broke up with you. You cheated on her.”

“She cheated on me.”

“More proof of why the two of you shouldn’t date. You don’t care enough about each other to stay true to each other. I don’t know if you were actually friends with her before you dated or whether it was just the top football player dating the head cheerleader – very high school cliché. But if you want to be friends with her now, you’ll have to build up the trust between you. Neither of you trusts the other. People can have more than one friend. She can be my friend and your friend, even if the two of us aren’t friends. People can have lots of friends, Finn. Stop acting like you have the right to control who I’m friends with. If you don’t want to lose your friends, be a better friend. Be the kind of friend that people won’t want to lose.”

“Whatever.”

“Don’t you ‘whatever’ me, Finn Hudson. Puck works 60 hours a week and then spends nearly every weekend in Columbus with his grandma and little sister doing whatever he can there to help out since his grandma is old. He has about an hour a day to himself, besides the breaks he gets at work for meals. He has to go to bed by 8:30 to get 8 hours of sleep a night. I didn’t steal him from you. He’s being an adult and works from 5am to 7pm five days a week. He’s not blowing you off. He’s sleeping. He doesn’t have time to play video games and be lazy, except maybe on a Friday evening, if he’s not going to Columbus the next morning. He came here last Friday to spend time with you until you annoyed him so much that he left. He had one evening to goof around and he came here to do it with you. What more do you want from him?”

Finn didn’t respond.

“I miss Tina and Mercedes, but I’m not acting like I’ve lost my friends. I text them. They text when they can. They’re busy working. They’re not even here in town for me to sneak in an hour or two here or there with them, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t my friends anymore. I have to go or we’re going to be late and that’s rude. I’ll see you at work Monday, Dad. I’ll see you next Friday, Carole.” Kurt got up and Dave followed him out.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After they finished the cinnamon rolls that Judy had made, Quinn led Judy to her room. Everyone else followed behind. Judy stood in the alcove.

“Close your eyes.”

Quinn opened the door and guided Judy into the room and stood her near the end of the bed.

“Okay. Open them.”

“Oh, wow. This doesn’t even look like the same room, at all.” She turned towards the window. “That shelving is amazing. It looks like it was here all along. I saw the chair, but couldn’t figure out how it could look good with anything.”

Quinn laughed.

“But it looks amazing. The quilt and the throw pillows look great with those butterfly prints. I like that lamp too. The multi-colored shades remind me of a hanging lamp in my aunt’s house.”

“It’s cool. Watch.” Quinn turned the switch and showed Judy how it cycled through different combinations of the five lights. The colored shades gave the room a different feel when they were lit.

“That is a most interesting bulletin board and the silver highlights in here are really nice.” She looked around again. “It’s really a total transformation.” She turned as Quinn opened the closet. “Oh, now that’s jealousy-inducing. I love that. And the metal words. Very nice. I say this redec was a total success.”

“I really do love it.”

“Well, I think it’s great.”

Paul took one step in and looked around. “It looks like it should be in a magazine.”

“Thank you,” Quinn said.

Paul stepped back out into the hallway. Kurt followed him.

Dave looked in. “The final result looks great. Did you take before and after pictures?”

“I did.”

“Well, it all came together and I like it.

Kurt walked toward the living room. “We’re going to ahead and go since we’re leaving early tomorrow morning. Thanks for dessert.”

“You’re welcome. Thanks for helping Quinn redo her room.”

Dave and Kurt said, “You’re welcome.” at the same time.

“See you tomorrow morning at 8:00,” Quinn said, as Dave and Kurt walked out the door.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

By lunchtime, Quinn had sold off what she could, donated the rest, and found several dresses that she really liked between looking at the resale shop, Goodwill, and the outlet mall. She also bought a few pairs of shorts to wear with the baby-doll shirts she had bought the previous fall.

“I have to thank you for pointing out that the guys’ skinny jeans would probably fit. They have a bit of stretch to them and my phone fits in the pockets. I don’t wear jeans that often, but when I do, it’s not because I want to be dressed up and carry a purse. I just want to be able to put the jeans on and go do whatever. And you won me over on the hiking boots. I just know that you two are going to keep hauling my butt out into the woods and I’d rather wear those than tear up my nice boots.”

Kurt laughed. “You’ll have fun with us. How could you not?”

“Of course. How silly of me to think otherwise,” she deadpanned. “Let’s go to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch.”

“I’ve never been,” Kurt said.

“Oh, my God. We’re definitely going.” She pulled up directions on her phone.

Once they were inside, they all ordered and sat down to eat. They looked at the movies playing at the $1 theater and talked about their shopping adventures.

Kurt said, “Definitely _Sister Act_ and _Sister Act 2_. They’re classics.”

“Sure,” Dave said.

“Do you always give in so easily?” Quinn asked Dave. “You’re a big softie who spoils him.”

“But he’s so freaking adorable and I’ve seen all of those action movies before anyway. Why not do what he wants? It’s not like the movies can be that horrible if he likes them that much.”

“Where can I find a sweet boyfriend like yours, Kurt?”

He put his arm across the back of Dave’s chair. “Hmm. I’m thinking I might have the only one at McKinley.”

Dave disagreed. “Nope. You’re just as sweet to me. So, there are two of us. Oh, and Azimio is super sweet to Mercedes.”

“Yeah, she told me about that. I’m going to have to fly solo I think. I’m not willing to put up with much. No one’s perfect and I’m not looking for perfect, but I’m looking for a fairly adult model this time. No more childish boyfriends.”

Kurt said, “I’d say that Puck is the closest that I can think of as far as being an adult. He quit being a casanova. He doesn’t date at all as far as I know. He’s dead-set on moving to Columbus when he graduates though, so unless that appeals to you, I’d look elsewhere.”

“What caused the big turnaround?”

“I’m not certain, but we had this football camp-out where we had all the dads we could get come and we assigned the guys who didn’t have a dad to one. Puck got assigned to Paul and they hit it off. He started talking to Paul and spending some time with him. I have no idea what they talk about and it’s none of my business anyway, but after that, Paul got my dad to give Puck a job and he did everything he was told and he’s been studying to get some certifications. He just seemed to make a decision, and then he stuck with it. He started studying and quit fooling around and drinking. He just stopped being a jackass and started working hard instead.”

“Maybe it will rub off on some of the other guys.”

“We can hope,” Dave said. “Azimio and Puck basically ran the football team. Azimio doesn’t work during the school year, but he helps his mom with church stuff and with all his cousins and stuff that are always at their house. I’m not sure whether any of the other guys who don’t have dads ever kept in touch with the dads they were assigned to. It would be interesting to know if it was helpful to anyone besides Puck.”

Kurt finished his slice of cheesecake. “This was good, but Dave’s is SOO much better.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I am. Very.”

“Oh, Davey dear, nearly step-brother of mine…” Quinn cooed as she batted her eyes.

“Yes, sweetums, darling, nearly step-sister of mine?” Dave mimicked back.

“I really, really need to try this cheesecake of yours that is better than the cheesecake here.”

Dave laughed. “We’ll work on it.”

She blew him a kiss.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They got back to Lima around 6:00. Kurt dropped Dave off at Azimio’s.

“So, are you ready for your first cooking lesson?”

“What are we making?”

“Chicken salad lettuce wraps. Your mom was going to get what we need at the store.”

“Alright. We’re still doing the spa thing and the facials too, right?”

“Definitely.”

“Mercedes told me all about it. I’m excited. My mom wants to do it too, but she’s too embarrassed to say so.”

“I’ll get her to join in somehow.”

“Have you always been this cool?”

“Pretty much what you see is what you get. I’m just me.” Kurt pulled into Quinn’s driveway.

“We were the stupid ones. Well, not anymore for me at least. Let’s go show my mom my new clothes.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After Quinn had played fashion model and showed off her new stuff for Judy, Kurt declared that it was time to cook. Quinn changed back into some lounge clothes and went to the kitchen.

Kurt patiently demonstrated how to make everything, giving Quinn the chance to do everything herself as well. Once everything was ready to eat, Quinn went to get Judy and they sat down and ate together.

“I’m not really sure what this is, but I actually really like it,” Judy said.

“It’s my own chicken salad recipe. I had these wraps at this place once and I really liked them and I fiddled around in the kitchen until I got the chicken salad to come out like what I had eaten at the restaurant, but I realized after the fact that I didn’t have any tortillas, so I decided to use the romaine lettuce that was in the fridge and I ended up really liking it. It took longer today because we actually cooked the chicken, but usually I make this recipe when there’s leftover chicken. You could use leftover turkey too.”

Judy nodded and kept eating.

Quinn said, “We picked up a watermelon at a farmer’s stand on the way back too. We cut it up and put it in the fridge to chill for a little bit. That’s for dessert. Then, we’re doing spa treatments.”

“You can join us. I’ll do your nails.”

“Oooh. You’ve found my weakness. Alright, you’ve twisted my arm,” she teased.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“What’s Dave going to say when you show up with your fingernails and toenails painted?”

“Probably nothing. He’s seen my toenails done plenty of times, but I’ve not let anyone do my fingernails before. It was just so you could practice using your left hand. You need more practice to get your hand steady enough to do your own nails.”

“We’ll go shopping again at the end of the summer, right?”

“Definitely. I’m going to need more pants. I sold off most of mine because I had outgrown them. I kept most of the money back to buy new ones, but I’m waiting to see if I grow anymore first.”

“You have grown a lot. When school started last fall, you were barely any taller than me. Now, you’re just a few inches shorter than Dave.”   She changed the subject abruptly. “Are we going hiking tomorrow or just out on the boat? And can I get in the lake and swim?”

“I don’t know about the hiking, but it’s possible I suppose – especially if you want to. And as for swimming, sure. Dave would go and I’m sure Azimio would too, but you’ll have to let them know so they wear their swim trunks and bring towels.”

“You won’t get in?”

“Probably not. I’m not big on swimming. I’ll just watch from the boat.”

“I’m looking forward to Mercedes coming back for the Fourth of July weekend.”

“Me too. We can go out on the boat that weekend too at some point, I’m sure.”

“You better go. Don’t you have potatoes to boil?”

“You’re right. Bring the leftover watermelon tomorrow since we didn’t make much of a dent in it at dinner.”

“I will. Get some sleep. I need my cooking instructor to be awake enough to keep me from doing something stupid and setting the kitchen on fire tomorrow morning.”

Kurt laughed and got up out of Quinn’s sitting chair. “I like the chair. It’s very comfortable.”

“I know. It’s perfect.” She followed him to the front door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt pulled up in front of Azimio’s house and texted Dave telling him that he was there. He turned off the engine and closed his eyes. A few minutes later, Dave came out and got in. Kurt turned to face the passenger door as soon as Dave touched the door handle. Dave climbed in quickly.

“Hey, handsome.” Kurt leaned over the console and reached for Dave. He ran his fingers along the side of Dave’s face. “Did you have fun blowing things up?”

“I did. And you painted your fingernails. That’s new.”

Kurt leaned in closer and kissed Dave. “It’s coming off when we get home. I let Quinn practice using her left hand since she says she can’t do her own nails because her right hand always looks terrible. So, my toenails match.” Kurt started to back out of Azimio’s driveway and headed home when his phone pinged with a text. He pulled his phone out before he backed out into the street.

Dave laughed. “I’m not sure whatever shade of orange that is goes with your skin tone.”

“It’s a color she bought and hated, but never bothered to give away or throw out. I figured she might as well use it to practice her technique with.”

“Makes sense. I think you’d do much better with a deep blue or maybe a really nice deep dark green or purple or maybe black. Definitely black with your tall Docs. You could spike your hair up and go all bad boy skank or something.”

“I might try it some time. Were you playing with Artie?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Tina said she’s been texting Artie for a week and she hasn’t gotten a single response. She’s so upset. She thinks he’s ignoring her. I’m going to drive over to his place.”

“That’s fine.”

Kurt backed out the rest of the way and turned in the direction of Artie’s house. “Eyebrow or lip piercing?”

“Umm…”

“I’m just teasing. Maybe those ear studs.”

“I think I like the orange nail polish more than I thought I did.”

Kurt snorted. “I see.”

“I wouldn’t be able to kiss your ears like you like if you had studs in them.”

“Mmm. Good point. I do really enjoy you kissing my ears. We need a new topic while I’m driving.”

Dave smiled. “How did Quinn’s cooking lesson go?”

“It went fine. She’s smart. She catches on fast. Judy liked it. We did facials afterwards. And I did their nails. Can you text your dad and ask him to boil the potatoes that are sitting on the island? I thought we’d be back soon, but I don’t know how long we’ll be at Artie’s.”

“Sure.” Dave texted Paul. “Done. He says he’ll do it.”

“Excellent.”

Kurt turned down Artie’s street and pulled into the Abram’s driveway. He got out of the SUV and walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. Dave followed him and put his hands on Kurt’s waist and propped his chin on Kurt’s shoulder while they waited for someone to answer the door. Mr. Abram’s cracked the door a couple of inches.

“Kurt?”

“Yes.”

Mr. Abrams opened the door and let Kurt and Dave inside. “I wasn’t expecting Artie to have anyone over so late.”

“He’s not expecting us. Sorry to show up without calling first, but Artie’s not answering his phone.”

“Oh. He’s in his room. You know the way.”

“Thanks.”

Kurt and Dave went down the hall. Kurt knocked on the open door. Artie looked up, confused and put up his index finger and kept talking to whoever he was playing with, probably Azimio still. A few minutes later, he looked up again.

“What are you two doing here?”

“Where’s your phone? Tina thinks you’re being passive/aggressive and breaking up with her by ignoring her.”

“She what?”

“Again, I ask – where is your phone?”

“Umm…” Artie started looking around on his desk. He rolled back and went over to his bed and looked on his bedside table. “I don’t know, actually. Help me look for it?”

Dave and Kurt started picking up everything on every surface in the room with no luck.

“How long have I been ignoring her?”

“She said it’s been since last Friday night.”

“Oh, God. It’s Saturday, right? That means 7 days? No wonder she’s upset. I don’t want to break up with her. I love her. Text her and tell her that we’ve searched everywhere for my phone and we can’t find it. What if she’s so mad she breaks up with me?”

“She wouldn’t be as upset as she is if she wanted to break up with you.” Kurt texted Tina and told her the situation.

“I hope you’re right.”

Dave said, “How long has it been since you’ve left your room?”

“I leave to eat dinner.”

“Not what I meant.”

“I haven’t left the house since Brittany’s pool party.”

Dave said, “That was last Saturday. Tina left for the Asian Camp that afternoon. So, she texted you from camp and you didn’t answer for the entire time she’s been gone.”

“Maybe you left your phone at Brittany’s house,” Kurt said.

“I’ll get my mom or dad to take me over there tomorrow to look. Did she respond to your text?”

“Yes. She’s hurt though. She says that you should have realized because you should have cared enough to text her and not always wait for her to be the one to initiate a conversation.”

“She’s right. Can you hand me that notebook behind you on the desk? And a marker from the drawer?”

Dave reached over and grabbed what Artie wanted and handed it to him. Artie took them and wrote in big red letters on the page – “I love you” with a big heart and underneath he wrote “I’m sorry”.

“Take a picture of me holding this and text it to her, please?”

Kurt did what Artie asked and a couple of minutes later, his phone pinged. He read the text. “She says to find your phone or get a replacement and start texting her or she’s going to think you don’t mean it.”

“I’ll have my parents help me search tomorrow. The van, the house, everywhere. If we don’t find it, I’ll go to Brittany’s and look. If I still don’t find it, I’ll get another phone tomorrow.”

Kurt relayed the message to Tina and waited for a response. “She says that she expects to hear from you tomorrow.”

Artie nodded. “I will. I was so upset when she was going to be gone all summer. I mean, I know it’s a cool opportunity, but I miss her like crazy.”

“You need to tell her that,” Dave said. “Not realizing that you haven’t talked to her in a week doesn’t really say ‘I miss you like crazy.’ More like ‘Oh, you’ve been gone? I didn’t notice.’”

“I screwed up. I get it. And you’re right. I need to get out of the house. All of the days blur together. She won’t be back until a few days before school starts. It totally sucks. She wants to get a car when she turns 16. And her parents said they would pay $2000, but she has to pay the rest herself. So, she took the camp job because she just stays there and didn’t need a ride every day like she would have for a job here in Lima. Plus, not that many people want to hire 15 year olds.”

Kurt gave Artie his patented bitch glare. “If you miss her, you better let her know that. She’s a great girl and she deserves a boyfriend who treats her right, not one who ignores her for video games and his computer.”

“I got it. Really. I’ll text her tomorrow. I promise.”

“You better. We have to go because it’s late. But don’t be a stranger. We both work, but just during the day. I can come pick you and we can do stuff.”

“I hate to be a bother.”

Dave said, “You’re 15. You can’t drive. You’re our friend. How are you being a bother?”

“I still won’t be able to drive when I’m 16 or 17 or 18. Not until we can afford a van with hand controls.”

“Be that as it may, you’re still not a bother. It’s not like you live an hour away or something. You live like 10 minutes away at most. Stop worrying about it.”

“Okay.”

“Okay,” Kurt said. “We’re going to go now. Text Tina. Don’t you break my girl’s heart…”

“If I did, I’d be breaking my own. I’ll text her. Tomorrow, I promise.”

Kurt raised an eyebrow saying “you better” and nodded.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt stopped in the den before he went to the kitchen. “Thanks for boiling the potatoes. We had to stop by Artie’s because he let his phone die and hasn’t been answering Tina’s texts ever since she left for camp a week ago.”

“Ooh. That’s not good.”

“Nope, but hopefully they’ll work things out now that they both know what happened. I’m going to go chop up the potatoes. Thanks again.”

“No problem.”

Kurt went in the kitchen and started dicing the potatoes into cubes. He put them in a bowl, put the lid on, and put it in the refrigerator. He looked through his list to make sure that he had everything he needed before he went upstairs. When he opened the bedroom door, he saw that the only lights on were the mini lanterns over the bed and the closet light. He shut and locked the door behind him and then he realized that there was music playing softly.

“Dave?”

“Hmm?” He stepped out of the closet.

“I was just wondering where you were.”

“Just getting stuff ready for tomorrow.”

Kurt walked toward the closet and kissed Dave. “You’ve got quite the mood going in here. I thought maybe you were waiting for me so we could dance or something.”

“Oh, that too.” Dave pulled him close and took his hand and started to dance them around the room. “But I had planned for the dancing to start after we shower. You got done a little quicker than I thought you would. I thought I could manage to be in the bathroom waiting for you.”

“I see. Well, shall we?”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“I think we’ve finished everything,” Quinn said. “I want to talk to you about something.”

“Okay.” He sat down on one of the barstools at the island.

She leaned up against it and propped on her elbows. “So, I called around about ballet. I was looking for some place different than where I’ve been going. There’s a class that meets in Findlay that is a couples class. I know you told my mom that you aren’t strong enough to be paired with a girl, but I think you’re underestimating yourself. I think that last fall you were too small, but now you’re tall and a lot stronger than you were then. Are you willing to try something?”

“I guess.”

“Let’s go out back and get Dave.”

They went out through the patio door. When Dave saw them come out, he cut the mower engine and walked toward them.

“Hey, I want to try something. I want to see if Kurt can lift me, but I want you to spot me in case he can’t – to keep me from falling on him.”

“Okay.”

She slipped her sandals off. “So, put your hands on my waist. I’m going to jump and you’re going to lift me and see if you can put me up on your right shoulder. I’m going to arch my back at the top and lean back.”

“That sounds complicated for a first go at something. How about you just let me see if I can pick you up bridal style first.”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

Kurt picked her up a lot more easily than he thought he’d be able to.

“You’re a lot stronger than you think you are. And I’m used to being up in the air, so I’m not afraid. Try what I said.”

Kurt put his hands on her waist. “I just want to try the jump first, so I get a feel for what I need to do.”

They worked at it and after a couple of tries, Kurt lifted her up onto his shoulder and she relaxed back into an arch. She sat back up and he helped her down.

“This time I want you to try to lift me. I’ll jump and you lift me so that I am basically pretending to be an airplane above your head.”

“Alright.” He put his hands on her waist with her facing him. “One, two, three.” She jumped and he faltered a bit at first with his footing, but he regained his stance and held her up. After about 30 seconds, he put her back down.

“I really think you could do it, especially if you see what your supposed to do demonstrated by someone. I really want to do paired dancing and I just can’t bring myself to let some random guy put his hands all over me and feel me up. I know you would have your hands all over me, but not in a sexual way. Come with me next Saturday? The first lesson is $5. I’ll get my mom to pay for your lessons too if you decide to come with me. I’ll just take the regular class if you don’t like it.”

“Okay. I’ll try. It would be fun to have a partner to dance with. Dave can just go to the ice rink.”

“Or I could watch you.” He wiggled his eyebrows and then winked before he walked back to the lawn mower.

“He’s got it so bad. He loves you.” She grabbed her sandals and walked back toward the house.

Kurt followed her. “I know. He’s really sweet.”

“I see you took the orange nail polish off.”

“I did. Orange is not my color. Dave suggested deep blue or dark purple or black.”

She laughed. “Oh, really?”

“He said definitely black to go with my bitch boots.”

“Punk rocker? Goth? Bad boy biker?”

“Something like that. I’m going to go out there and do the weed eating so we can get going sooner. You can go in our room and read a book if you want or watch TV or whatever.”

She nodded. “I’ll go see if anything else needs to be done first.”

He headed out to the backyard.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

A few hours later, they had eaten and had taken the boat out on the lake. Dave, Azimio and Quinn were swimming and Kurt was under the awning lying on one of the built-in cushioned couches reading a book. After about 10 minutes, Quinn swam up to the boat, “I’m freezing. I need to thaw.” She climbed back up onto the back of the boat. She took her towel from Kurt. “Thanks. I should have thought through the water temperature more carefully. It’s just the end of May. It may be nearly 80, but the water is COLD.” Her teeth were still chattering as she dried off and laid the towel on the couch. She lay down on top of it and let the sun beat down on her.

Kurt went back underneath the awning and resumed reading the book he had brought with him. Dave was still out in the water swimming around with Azimo. A few minutes later, Kurt looked up and saw that Quinn’s teeth were chattering . He put his book down and pulled a blanket out of the storage area under the couch he was lying on and covered Quinn up.

“Roll this way a little bit.” He tucked it under her. “Scoot to the back and turn on your side.” He waited until she did and then he lay down in front of her. “Tell me if I’m squishing you.” He scooted back and she managed to keep her arm under the blanket and still wrap her arm under his.

“Tha-an-ank yo-ou.”

“You’re welcome.” He closed his eyes and relaxed, lacking anything else to do while lying there.

Judy glanced back and saw them. She moved closer to Paul and spoke directly into his ear. “She has never taken to someone like she has to him. It’s like they’re long, lost siblings.”

Paul wrapped his arm around Judy’s shoulders and pulled her closer. “The three of them are a hoot together.”

“I was so afraid that she’d come back and be angry with me for moving on, but she’s been so great about it. She was such daddy’s girl, and she was always trying to get the boys’ attention.”

“Well, now she’s got two boys wrapped around her finger it seems, and neither one will hit on her. She and Azimio get along too.”

“She’s super excited that Kurt agreed to go to ballet with her. She told me that he told her that she was beautiful and that the whole time they were shopping that he pointed out the flattering aspect of everything she tried on, even if in the end, he said something else would suit her more. He stopped her from calling herself fat. And she says that Dave is a big teddy bear.”

“Well, she’s not wrong about that,” he chuckled.


	17. Chapter 17

Since Martha had moved out, the living room had been practically unused because it had been mostly used to host the women from her church for get-togethers. Paul had never spent much time in there, preferring to spend his time at home in the den because the TV was in there. When Kurt and Dave went to Paul and asked about repurposing the living room, he agreed to let them turn it into a music and dance studio.

They repainted the walls a very pale, nearly eggshell color that was tinted slightly apricot to brighten the room from the nearly sienna color it had been previously, while staying within the color scheme of the curtains and furniture in the room. The floor in the room was hardwood already, so they didn’t need to make any changes to it. Kurt convinced Burt to let him move the piano from the dining room to the Karofsky’s living room as well.

Kurt and Dave built a ballet barre and rearranged the living room furniture so that the center of the floor was clear. They removed the love seat and put it in one of the guest rooms. They moved the sofa and side tables from where they had sat facing the fireplace and placed them under the front window instead.

After the initial ballet class, Kurt had stayed for an additional hour of private lessons for two weeks to get caught up with the terminology and moves. Quinn and Kurt practiced frequently in the dance and music studio. Each evening ,with or without Quinn, he diligently worked on learning and reviewing the movements so he could perform at the level he needed to in class.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Early Friday morning on the second of July, Kurt, Dave, and Azimio were at Quinn’s house sitting on her front stoop, awaiting someone’s mid-summer visit home.

As soon as the long-awaited visitor shut her car door, she heard, “Mercedes!” And she was met with two strong arms wrapped around her for a huge hug.

“And what makes you think YOU should have gotten the first hug?” Azimio said as he pried Kurt out of Mercedes arms and hug her himself.

Kurt stuck his tongue out. “You snooze, you lose.”

“Now, now you two. No need to fight. I have plenty of hugs for everyone. It’s Quinn’s turn.” She stepped back and walked over to Quinn and hugged her. “You look good. Happier.”

“I am. I miss you, but these three have kept me company.”

“I told you, didn’t I?”

“You did.”

“Alright, so what’s the plan?” Mercedes asked.

“Well, you’re here. We couldn’t get started without you,” Dave said.

“Obviously,” she teased.

“You have to see my room before we go.”

“Definitely.”

Mercedes followed Quinn back to her room. Kurt followed them. The other two guys waited in the living room.

“It’s amazing, Quinn. I know you told me it was, but you wouldn’t give me any hints or send me any pictures.” She turned around slowly. “I love it. It’s not at all what I expected, but it’s absolutely perfect.” She opened the closet doors. “Oh, now, Kurt Hummel, I want my closet to look like this. Why did I not know you could do this?”

“You never asked?”

“Smarty pants.” She turned to Quinn. “Can I take picture? I want to convince my mom to let me redo my closet.”

“Sure.”

“The room is so small, I thought for sure it would feel cramped no matter what you did, but it doesn’t at all. You all did good.”

Quinn winked at Kurt. They both smiled.

“Alright. I saw the room redec. Now, what?”

“Well, we’re just going to go back home and hang out. Quinn wanted you to see her room first thing, so we met here. But we’re going to play games and do facials and order pizzas and stuff. We rented a movie for later.”

“Fine with me. Azimio’s riding with me.”

“We figured,” Kurt said. “That’s why we picked him up on the way over here.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

As soon as Mercedes stepped into the foyer, Kurt said, “Close your eyes.”

“You did not tell me there were more surprises.”

“That makes the surprise even more of a surprise,” he teased. He turned her and led her into the remodeled dance and music studio. Once she was through the door, he said, “Open your eyes.”

“Oh, now, I’m really jealous. Quinn has a closet to die for and you have a music and dance studio?”

“Well, you’re in luck because Quinn and I are going to let you and Azimio be the first ones to see the piece we’re working on, well besides Dave. He watches us all the time.”

Kurt and Quinn had their ballet clothes on underneath what they were wearing. They slipped their clothes off and put their ballet shoes on. They stretched some and turned the music on and started to dance.

When they finished, Kurt said, “So, what do you think? We haven’t polished it yet or anything, but we did finally get the whole piece choreographed.”

Mercedes sat there speechless for a few minutes.

“Mercedes?”

“I didn’t know you could dance like that. I knew that Quinn took a lot of ballet lessons over the years, but I didn’t know about you. Why do you let Mr. Schue act like you’re not a good dancer? I mean we all saw ‘Four Minutes’ and the stuff from the Cheerios Nationals, and your ‘entertaining’ dance on New Year’s Eve, but this is completely beyond that. That was really amazing. Is there going to be a show or something that you’re doing that for?”

Quinn answered, “It’s not really a show with tickets or something, but it’s just an end-of-summer recital. If you’re in town, you can come watch. I’m not sure of the date yet, but I think it will just be the afternoon of our last summer class, which is at the end of August.”

“Okay. Let me know.”

“We’ll be right back down. You can go ahead into the dining room. We brought some of the games down for later. We’re going to do the manicures and facials first while Dave and Azimio play against Artie and Mike and Matt online. I don’t know if you heard the news yet.”

“What news?”

“Mike told Azimio yesterday that Matt’s moving out of state.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After the guys finished playing online for a couple of hours, Dave and Azimio drove over to Artie’s and brought him back to the house. They played Uno and some other card games for a while.

Dave and Kurt had prepped the meat for tacos the night before and everyone else brought in everything else they needed for a taco bar. Kurt surprised everyone with homemade flan for dessert.

They moved to the studio to play Charades after lunch. They watched a movie before everyone headed home before dinner.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Saturday morning, Kurt and Dave packed the Navigator with everything they needed for later that day before they picked Quinn up and drove to Findlay. After class, the instructor spoke with Kurt and told him that she felt that he was in a good place and he wouldn’t need to stay after for the additional instruction anymore, so they were done an hour earlier than expected. They changed and got in the Navigator.

They headed to the ice rink to meet up with Dave. Once they were inside the ice rink, they walked down to the ice and watched him skate around. When he came around the side they were standing on, Dave saw them both and exited out of the rink. He leaned over and kissed Kurt.

“You two are back early.”

“The instructor told him he didn’t need any more private lessons.”

“Okay. I’ll get my shoes on and we can go.”

“You can still skate,” Quinn said.

“Nah. I was only skating around because you two were in class. How about we have an early lunch at Penn Station. That was good.”

“Sure. You’ll like it Quinn. It’s really good. We can split something.”

“Fine with me. We have time and we have all of our stuff. The pool party isn’t until noon again. But so help me if Finn pushes me into the pool again, he’s going to get more than a tongue lashing.”

Kurt laughed. “Dave and I will take care of him if be bothers you.”

She batted her eyes and crossed her hands over her heart, “My heroes.”

Dave laughed. “Sure thing, Q.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Quinn lay down in the chaise next to Puck. “I want to talk to you, if that’s alright.”

“Sure.”

“Keep looking forward and make sure no one comes close enough eavesdrop on us. I’m going to turn over on my stomach.”

“Got it.”

“So, Kurt’s told me all about how you completely changed after I left. He’s convinced that it’s because you got a pseudo-dad out of Paul when you went to some football campout.”

“That’s part of it. Having an adult to talk to makes a really big difference. I’ve never had that, ever.”

“And the other part?”

“What happened totally sucked. I wasn’t ready to be a dad any more than you were ready to be a mom, but not even having a chance or a say in it was really hard. You made a choice – one you could live with. But your choice didn’t include giving me a choice. I eventually came to terms with the fact that if you had given me a choice, I would have made the same one because I already have my sister to take care of. My nana can’t do it forever. She’s old. But I was young and stupid and naïve. I lied to you and that’s how it all started. So, I realized that I had brought my suffering on my own head and I hurt you too. I put you in a position no one should have to be in. You lost your dad over it. I would never do that to someone intentionally. I know how much it hurts to lose a dad. But I didn’t think through the possible consequences of my actions when I lied, and I caused that to happen to you. I expect you to hate me.”

“I don’t hate you. I mean I did, but seeing a therapist really helped me work through the anger. Anger takes up so much emotional effort. I couldn’t stay at that level of emotional turmoil and function. The therapist helped me learn that being angry only helps if it spurs someone on to action to change something. And you weren’t the only one I was angry with. There was my myself, my dad, and the church and God until I realized that it was the church and the people in it that were the problem, not God himself. I know you’re Jewish and you don’t believe what’s in the New Testament, but if it’s true, then God chose an unmarried, virgin who was most likely a teenager to be the mother of his child. I am in no way comparing myself to Mary. I’m just pointing out that God nowhere does the Bible say to disown your unwed teen daughter if she gets pregnant. I read the whole New Testament while I was there, just because I never had and I was questioning everything I had been taught and the questioning whether Jesus taught people to throw their kids out when they screwed up. I found out a lot of stuff that I didn’t know was in the Bible and Jesus was friends with a lot of people that the current church would not agree with. I’m not proselytizing. I just realized that what I had been told and what I saw and what I read didn’t match. And I was angry about that too. I was angry for a lot of reasons. Eventually, with help, I sorted through a lot of things. You weren’t that much older than me. You probably thought that I couldn’t get pregnant the first time. You had probably been with other girls that didn’t get pregnant their first times and it just reinforced the falsehood.”

“Yeah. I also swear to you that I didn’t know I had … anything.”

“I believe you. Anyway, I figured I was better off letting the anger go and pushing all of my energy into doing well in school and figuring out what I really wanted to do with my life. I had been raised to see my role as the homemaker and nurturing mother and doting wife of the next generation of perfect Prom Queens and Kings. And I mean that literally. The Chastity Ball I was supposed to attend last fall was just a prelude to me being Prom Queen the next two years like my mother. I really examined myself and realized that you had what I was looking for in a strange way. You had this bad boy, take-no-crap-from-people attitude that made you do things the way you wanted to do them without continually consulting other people about every move you made. You were this wild and free person, while I was trapped in my own life. Dating Finn was what I was supposed to do. He was supposed to my Prom King. We were supposed to end up married, living in a starter home here in Lima. I’d work for a few years to support him going to Lima Community College or maybe even OSU Lima and then once he got out, my dad would give him a decent job in his company where his dad had given him a decent job. After a year or two, Finn and I would start having our perfect little future Prom Queen and King babies. I couldn’t find myself in that scenario. It wasn’t me. It was someone who looked like me, but it felt all wrong. Once I realized that everything I thought would happen had already been changed, I started making plans of my own. The dream had been shattered. Why not rebuild it to my liking instead of someone else’s? I’m not angry with you anymore, Puck. I hope some day you can forgive yourself. You’ve suffered enough already. All I can tell you is that I was very picky when I chose the parents.”

“I get it. What’s done is done and you want to move on.”

“If we want no one to find out it was you, we’re going to have to be friendly. You hang out with Kurt, Dave, and Azimio. And Paul. And my mom is dating him. I hang out with the three of them pretty much exclusively, except I’ve spent time with Mercedes yesterday and I will for the rest of the weekend. But we need to make peace with each other. Are you going to be able to handle being around me on the boat tomorrow?”

“Hold that thought. Sarah!” Puck got up quickly and went to the edge of the pool. “Sarah, you can’t hold onto the turtle float. Remember what I said?”

“Oh, I forgot. I’ll be good. What’s his name? I forgot.”

“It’s Artie.”

She swam over to the edge of the turtle. “I’m sorry, Artie. I forgot.”

“It’s okay. Just try to remember, okay?”

“I will from now on. If you get out of the pool some time, can I try the turtle?”

“Sure. How about right after we eat? You can have a turn then.”

“Yay! Thank you.” She swam back to the edge where Noah was standing.

He knelt down again.

“I told him I was sorry. He said I can have a turn on the turtle after we eat.”

“That was nice. Go play with Lexie.”

“Ok, Noah. I’ll be good. I promise.”

“I know.”

Puck went back and sat down next to Quinn. “Sorry. She about tipped Artie out of the turtle by accident. She just wanted a turn on the turtle, but she forgot he was paralyzed.”

“No problem. I was asking about going out on the boat tomorrow. Are we going to be okay? Finn’s going to be there and he’s pestered me numerous times already to tell him who it was. I’m never going to tell him, but if you act weird around me, he’s not stupid, even though he acts like an idiot half the time. We can’t act weird or he’s going to wonder why.”

“I know. I’m fine. Azimio and Dave will be there and Kurt. You can hang with Mercedes more. I’ll have to hang with Finn because he’s still being weird to Kurt and Dave. I’d rather hang out with them than him, but if I ignore him, he just treats Kurt worse. He actually got mad at Kurt and told him to stop stealing his friends when he made friends with you. Kurt didn’t tell me, but Dave did. Kurt doesn’t know that I know. Anyway, it’s stupid. Finn’s just mad that he might not be top dog and he doesn’t have a girlfriend. I know I’m not what you’re looking for and I’ve become reacquainted with my right hand, but it’s better than doing what I did to you and hurting more girls. Before you, it was just fun and the girls were willing, but what I did with you was wrong. God, I think you’re beautiful and you’re the first girl I would have given up being a player for. When I said that you were more than a hook up to me, I meant that, but I ruined it. And I get that. But I want a real relationship. Hanging around with Kurt and Dave and seeing Azimio with Mercedes – they’re happy. I want that. Maybe I won’t get it for a long time. But I’m getting out of this cow town. I don’t want a line of girls I’ve knocked up chasing me down for child support. I’m not going to be a deadbeat like my dad. I already screwed up big time. No more. I think I can be a good dad one day. Sarah’s doing okay.” He repeated himself. “One day I will be a good dad.”

“I think so too, now that I’ve seen that you can apply yourself and work hard.”

“Thanks. As far as I’m concerned, we’re fine. I will go to my grave and never tell a soul that you and I ever had sex.”

“Not even for a million dollars from _The Inquirer_ when I get rich and famous?”

Puck laughed. “Not even then. Our baby deserves better than me being a greedy son of a bitch for a bit of fame. I would like for us to be friends or at least friendly. I really like hanging out at the Karofsky’s and things being weird between us will mean I’ll end up the one losing out on that because it’s your mom that’s dating Paul. I can’t promise that I won’t look at you like you’re beautiful and like I wish you were my girlfriend because I don’t think I’m that good of an actor, but I will never give away our secret.”

“I’ll chalk your behavior up for your incessant need to flirt and your absolute certainty that I won’t actually take you up on it. I did like you or I would have never, you know. But for the foreseeable future, our paths are only together for the next two years. Then, I want to go to the East Coast and you’re going to Columbus. You’re already a part-time father to your sister. Once you graduate, that will become full time from what I’ve heard. You’ll be in that role for eight years after high school. Eight years is a long time for our paths so far apart.”

“I get that. And you asked if I can be friendly without giving away that it was me. I can.”

“Good. Then it’s settled. We’ll just be friendly acquaintances for now. I was gone for so long, and from everyone else’s perspective, you and I weren’t friends when I left. So, we’re starting from scratch basically.”

“Got it. Finn got out of the pool and is headed this way.”

Quinn turned her head and faced the other direction.

“Why are you laying out here? We hardly get a chance to swim. Come on.”

Puck got up and went back to the pool with Finn.

“You know she’s never going to be into you. She’s acting so stuck up since she came back. I thought it was bad before, but she’s even more stuck up. She says she’s only going to date men, not boys.”

“Hey. Her life, her choice. We can’t all fit in the pool at the same time, so I was lying there watching Sarah. I wasn’t trying to get her to go out with me. Remember? No girls, no booze.”

“Right. Boring.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Kurt!” Quinn paused. “What is your middle name?”

“Eli.”

“Kurt Eli Hummel, you put me down!”

“You said you were tired of having to hike and that I had made the trek too long this time.”

“That didn’t mean that I wanted to be picked up like a sack of potatoes and tossed over your shoulder. Put me down.”

Kurt put her back down. “As you wish, my princess.”

“Shut up.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

“Oh, maybe you’re an urchin with those manners.”

She rolled her eyes. “Why is it that we’re friends?”

“Because I’m fabulous and you love me.”

“Ugh. I’m so tired. Let’s go back to the dock. I just want to eat and get on the boat and get a tan.”

“I tried to carry you and you threw a fit, so you’ll have to walk without complaining.”

She harrumphed. “I can complain if I want to.”

“I can pick you back up and carry you back.”

“It would have been easier to boss you around if you hadn’t gotten so tall and strong.”

“Mmm hmm. But alas, my dear princess, I am tall and strong. And you are in need of more hikes to build up your leg muscles. I can only imagine the epithets that Coach Sue will yell through her megaphone if you wobble.”

“Oh, God. Don’t remind me. Let’s keep hiking. You’re right. I am in need of better leg muscles.”

“And if I weren’t tall and strong, you would have some smarmy guy putting his hands all over you every Saturday morning.”

“Oh, no. No smarmy hands on me. I’d just go to pointe class by myself with the other girls.”

“Plus, you wanted to get away from Finn staring at you. I could tell.”

“I don’t know how to get him to understand that we are not getting back together. I don’t even understand why he wants to get back together. We have nothing in common. Being top dog and HBIC was the only thing we ever had in common.”

Kurt pulled his phone out when he heard it ping. “We’re eating in 20 minutes. We should head back.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Kurt’s practically a girl. Why don’t you just go out with a girl and be normal?”

Dave’s eyes flashed, but he restrained himself.

Paul overheard Finn, even though they weren’t standing that close to the grill. He looked over at the table and called out, “Azimo, take over for me for a few minutes.”

“Yeah, sure.” Azimio took the grill spatula from Paul and started watching the burgers.

Paul walked up to Finn and spoke quietly, but very firmly. “You will NOT speak to David that way. You were invited to spend time with this group. You knew who would be here. If you can’t be civil, you can leave. There is a child here. Keep your mouth shut. We’re all going to have a talk later when there are no children present. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” He stomped off into the woods.

Paul rolled his eyes. He walked back over to the grill. “Thanks, Azimio. Looks good. I think it’s all done. Let’s pull everything off.”

Azimio held a plate out for Paul to put the meat on and handed it to Puck when it was full and grabbed a second one and held it out for Paul to put the rest of the meat on. He walked over to the table and sat it down. Everyone started to pass the food around and fill their plates.

“Where’s Finn?” Carole asked.

“He went for a walk a few minutes ago,” Dave answered.

“Oh.” She pulled her phone out and texted him.

A few minutes later, everyone could hear arguing, but not what was being said. And then silence. Kurt, Quinn, and Finn came out of the woods. Quinn was holding Kurt’s hand and standing on the opposite side of Kurt from Finn. Kurt pulled Quinn to the table with him and sat her between himself and Dave and put his arm around her waist. They put some food on their plates and started to eat. Finn took a seat on the other end of the picnic tables and filled his plate.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Mercedes, Quinn, Judy, Sarah, Azimio, Kurt, and Dave were sitting on the end of the boat in front the control area. Judy sat on the end of the bench seating that was closest to the steering wheel so she could be close to Paul. Puck, Finn, Burt, and Carole were seated behind the control area and Puck and Burt were fishing off the back of the boat.

“I want to get in the lake and swim. I’m wearing the life vest and I’m a good swimmer,” Sarah said.

“Ask your brother,” Dave said. “If he’s too busy fishing, Azimio and I will get in and swim with you.”

“Okay.” She went to the back, asked, and came back. “Noah says that it’s fine as long as someone else swims with me.”

“Let’s go then,” Dave took his t-shirt off.

Sarah took her shorts off and left them with her sandals. Azimio took his shirt off too. Quinn decided to join them too.

“I’m ready. What do I do? Just jump off the edge?”

“Only if you’re sure you can jump away from the boat. Otherwise, you should sit down on the edge and get in that way.”

“I’m a good swimmer and I can jump far.”

“Okay,” Dave said. “I’ll still go first.” He sat down on the edge and slipped in and swam away from the boat a little bit. “Jump towards me.”

She yelled, “Cowabunga!” and pulled her feet up to cannon ball into the water to make a big splash. “Was it a big splash?”

“HUGE!” Dave said.

She turned to look at Quinn.

“Absolutely. It was enormous! You got me wet from over there.”

“Yay! Get in Quinn. It’s nice.”

Quinn got in and swam over to where she was.

“Lexie’s pool was cool yesterday, but this is like a ginormous pool.”

“It is.”

“It was easier to swim without the life vest on.”

“Yeah, but the water here is much deeper than Lexie’s pool. And there are rules about kids on boats and in the water, just like the rules about car seats and stuff.”

“I get it. Soon I will be big enough to not ride in my booster seat and one day I won’t have to wear this life vest in the lake and on the boat.”

“You got it.”

Azimio had aired up a big ring floatie and tossed it to Quinn.

“Climb in and we’ll float around.” She helped Sarah in.

“This is cool. The turtle looked cooler though, but we can both fit in this. Why was Finn yelling at you and Kurt?”

“Oh, well. Finn used to be my boyfriend, but I broke up with him.”

“He’s kind of dumb if he thinks yelling at you will make you want to be his girlfriend again. Noah tells me that when I get big to never go out with boys who are mean or yell.”

“That’s good advice. You should listen to him about that.”

“I know. Nana says that my dad used to yell at my ma and be mean and that Noah saw him, but I was just a baby so I don’t remember.”

“That’s sad for your mom and you and Puck.”

“It is. But sometimes, sad things happen. Nana is nice and I like living with her, but I do miss Lexie and some of my other friends. I made new friends though, so that’s good.”

“It is.”

“You should be Noah’s girlfriend. He won’t yell at you. He never yells at me. And he’s super nice. And don’t tell him I told you, but he’s really smart too. He made all A’s just like me.”

“I’ll keep it a secret. I’ve decided to wait on getting a boyfriend again, at least for a while.”

“Oh. I guess that’s okay too.”

“It really is. Do you know what girls get boyfriends?”

“’Cause boys are cute?”

Quinn laughed. “Well, besides that? What’s the purpose of having a boyfriend?”

“I guess I don’t really know. All the girls just want one.”

“I’ll tell you what I’ve learned.”

“What?”

“I’ve learned that girls should wait to pick out a boyfriend until the boys are old enough to drive and make their own money. And that anyone who isn’t old enough to pay for his own dates and his own car, isn’t old enough to be a good boyfriend.”

“That makes sense.”

“And it gives you time to grow up enough to figure out what you want to do.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, once you get older, you’ll figure out what things you like to study and you’ll start to think about what kind of job you’d like to have. Sometimes people don’t stay in the town where they grew up. Like you went to Columbus. You might want to do that again when you get older – live somewhere else.”

“Oh. And if the boy doesn’t want to go to that other place, it would be sad.”

“Right. But if you wait until you move to that other place, you can find a boyfriend then. Someone that wants to live where you live and someone who likes to do some of the same things that you like to do, so you have things to do together that you both like.”

“That makes sense.”

“I wish someone had told me that. I could have saved myself a lot of trouble.”

“I’ll remember. Can I tell Noah what you said?”

“Sure. It’s not a secret. I know that you know that Kurt and Dave are boyfriends, and that Azimio is Mercedes boyfriend, but they’re all old enough to drive and they all have jobs.”

“So, Finn is younger even though he is bigger?”

“He’s older than me and I think he’s about the same age as Azimio, but I’m not exactly sure. Their birthdays are very close. Dave and Kurt are the next oldest. And Noah is older than all of us. The rule is you have to be five by August 1st the year you go to kindergarten. So, everyone in our grade turned 16 between last August 1st and this coming July 31st. So, the youngest kids in my grade will turn 16 some time before the end of this month.”

“I didn’t know the rule. Everyone in my grade turned 8 this past year, but not me yet. And Lexie’s 8 too. She was in my class last year before I moved and the year before too. Well, every year I think. I don’t really remember exactly when we met.”

“That’s how Dave and Azimio are. They met in Kindergarten and they’ve been friends ever since.”

“That’s cool.”

“I didn’t meet them until last year. We went to different middle schools.”

“So, what are you going to do? You said I’d get to pick when I’m older. What did you pick?”

“Well, there’s this college I really want to go to, but it’s hard to get into.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean lots and lots of people want to study there, but there’s only room for a certain number of students. So, the school has to read all of the applications and decide which people will get admitted, which means which ones will get to study there. From what I read, for every 100 students that apply, somewhere around 7 get accepted.”

“Oh, that isn’t very many then. It must be a very popular place or very small.”

“Kind of both. But I have to have other ideas too. So, I’ll have to pick other places that I think would be good places to study, even if they aren’t my first choice.”

“Like I pick chocolate chip when the ice cream place is out of mint chocolate chip?”

“Exactly like that. Each college offers different majors or fields of study, like an ice cream shop offering different flavors of ice cream. Everywhere has vanilla and chocolate, things like math and English. But the specialty subjects, like mint chocolate chip and rocky road, are only available at certain schools.

“I see. It sounds tricky though.”

“It can be, but at least I can get booklets or look online to find out what each school offers. I don’t have to drive around from place to place to find the thing I’m looking for.”

“That’s good.”

“What makes it trickier is the quality.”

“What’s quality mean?”

“Well, have you ever had mint chocolate chip ice cream that was just not very good?”

“Yes, once Noah bought a brand that was on sale really cheap at the grocery store and it was like eating fluff. If I wanted to eat fluff, I’d ask for cotton candy. It was gross.”

Quinn laughed. “Well, colleges are like that. Some have mint chocolate chip, but not done very well and others have the best mint chocolate chip ever.”

“Oh. So if you don’t get to go to the place with the best mint chocolate chip ever, you might want to go to the place with the best chocolate chip instead of the place with the yucky mint chocolate chip.”

“Exactly. You catch on very quickly.”

Sarah beamed. “Noah says that being smart is only half of what I need and the other half is working hard.”

“Noah’s right.”

“He’s the best big brother. I wish he could come to live with Nana too, but there’s only one bedroom and some law about only having two people living there. At least I get to see him most weekends. He’s going to bring Kurt and Dave and we’re going to go shopping for new clothes. Practically none of mine fit anymore. I’m excited. They’re going to take me to a real movie theater too.”

“That sounds like a lot of fun. Kurt went shopping with me for new clothes. He’s fun to shop with.”

“I’m super excited. I’ve never gotten to go out and pick out my own clothes, but Noah said I’m big enough now. And after my birthday in two weeks, I don’t have to ride in my booster, but I might keep it because I can’t see out the windows in Noah’s truck without it yet.”

“That seems reasonable.”

Puck swam up alongside the raft. “What are you two lovely ladies discussing?”

“Quinn told me how college is like ice cream stores and I told her that I’m almost old enough to not ride in my booster seat and that Kurt is taking me shopping because I’m going to be old enough to pick out my own clothes this year.”

Puck laughed.

“Oh, and how boys that don’t have jobs aren’t good enough to be boyfriends when I get older.”

“She asked why I don’t want a boyfriend right now and why Finn was yelling at us. I told her that Finn used to be my boyfriend. She said that you had quite rightly told her not to date boys who yell or are mean. I suggested that she wait to date boys until they’re old enough to drive and make their own money.”

“That’s good advice, squirt. You should listen to Quinn. She’s smart too, just like you.”

“And you!” She slapped at the water so it splashed Puck.

“Shh! That’s our secret.”

“I know, but Quinn’s nice. She won’t tell your secret.”

Quinn laughed.

“Yeah, I know. Quinn’s good at keeping secrets.”

Quinn said, “If you want in, I can swim back to the boat.”

“Sure, I’ll float around out here for a while.”

“It’s awesome. It’s the biggest, most ginormous pool ever.”

Quinn slipped out and swam back to the boat.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Around 3:00, everyone helped pack anything that was still out. Mercedes and Azimio left together. Puck took Sarah back to Brittany’s so she could play with Lexie for a few hours before taking her back to Columbus to see the fireworks that evening. He didn’t have to work the next morning due to the Y being closed for the day, so he was planning to spend the night in Columbus.

Everyone else headed to the Hummel’s for the confrontation no one wanted to have. They had all arrived, except Paul and Judy, who stopped by the house to leave the boat before they drove to the Hummel’s. Kurt grabbed the chair from the desk in the living room and took it into the dining room. Dave brought in the leftover drinks and put them out on the dining table. Once Paul and Judy got there, everyone sat around the table.

Carole was the one to start. “Finn, we are all fed up with your behavior. You’re rude to Kurt and Dave. You hassle Quinn. And you don’t even get along with Puck half the time. We’ve taken you to counseling, but that doesn’t see to be helping. As your mother, I am asking you what on earth is going on.”

Finn said nothing.

“Fine. I’ll go first,” Quinn said. “I have apologized to you for my behavior. I cheated on you. Everyone knows that. You also cheated on me. We’re not good for each other. I will not answer the question of who the father of the baby is. It’s none of your business. I was fully aware of the choice I made at the time. We had been dating for what 6 weeks? My mom wouldn’t let me date until I was 15. I made a wrong choice. It was once. One time. I didn’t continue to see the guy. I thought we had a possible future together, you and me. I chose you over him. After that one time, I was faithful to you. I realize that what I did hurt you. But it’s over. Since last fall I’ve realized that I want to go to college. I mean I knew I wanted to go, but I’ve come to terms with what that means for me. It means I’ll be leaving Lima in two years. Who I cheated with has no relevance or impact on your life. None whatsoever. Stop asking me. I am not your girlfriend. I haven’t been for nearly 9 months. We can co-exist. Maybe we can be friends in time. We weren’t friends before. We were the two people in our grade at the top of the social ladder – the quarterback dating the head cheerleader. But you don’t know anything about me as a person, like what I like or what I want to do with my life. Neither one of us could even drive last summer. We barely saw each other until school started again. My hobbies aren’t watching televised sporting events and violent movies, playing violent video games, or eating. I cannot think of anything that we have in common other than we both like to sing. I don’t hate you, but you’re making it hard not to. I don’t have anything else to say in this conversation, so if you have something to say to me, say it now, and then I’m leaving.”

“Why wasn’t I good enough?”

“Good enough?”

“For you not to cheat on me?”

“What? I could ask you the same thing. Why wasn’t I good enough for you not to cheat on me? It’s a stupid question, Finn. It has nothing to do with anyone being good enough. We were young. I have no answer to that question other than that neither one of us was old enough to make a commitment to each other. I want to be clear, though. If you ask me one more time who I cheated on you with, it will be the last time I have a conversation with you. Stop asking me.” Quinn stood up. “I’m ready to leave.”

Paul pulled his keys out of his pocket and offered them to Judy. “You can drive my truck to your place. I’ll get a ride over there later.”

“Thanks.” She took the keys and left with Quinn.

Kurt was the next to speak. “You’ve been going to counseling and you’ve been doing research. You’ve shared what you’ve learned at our Friday Night Family Dinners. I don’t understand why you still say the things you do.”

Dave interjected, “What you said to me while the two of them were out hiking was totally uncalled for – telling me Kurt is so girly that I should just date a girl and be normal.”

“Finn Christopher Hudson, “ Carole spoke clearly without yelling, but her anger was quite evident.

“He is. He wears tight pants and shorts and clothes that girls wear. He sews and cooks and does the girls’ hair and nails. He takes the girls shopping. He might as well be a girl. He makes a spectacle of himself. I don’t want to be associated with that.”

“So, you’re ashamed that you could end up being my stepbrother?”

“Can’t you just knock it off for a couple of years? Be friends with the girls or whatever, but wear normal clothes and just be normal.”

“I like the way I dress. I like sewing and cooking and doing the ‘girly’ stuff. Why should I quit just because it bothers you?”

“Why should I stop not liking you doing that stuff? I have the right to feel the way I do. Why should I have to keep listening to some guy I don’t even like tell me how wrong I am to feel the way I do? Why do you get to have everything your way?”

“There is something else going on here,” Kurt said. “You’re afraid of something and it’s not my gayness. You’re not bothered by Dave, except that he likes me. Quinn didn’t upset you that much until she started hanging out with me. You got mad a Puck when he started talking to me.”

Finn just sat there.

“You’re jealous. You don’t want a new order at school. You want to stay at the top by default. That means just because. No reason. Just because you want to be.”

“The quarterback is supposed to be the top dog.”

“High school will last for two more years. No one will care that you were the quarterback then. What do you want to do after high school?”

“Work at the shop? Get a job? I don’t know.”

“Well, that’s where I’d start. If you want to work at the shop, learn to use the tools. Learn what’s in the manuals at the shop. You’ll have to study and train. You can’t sit around shooting things on a screen all day and learn to be a mechanic. There are lots of parts to a car and if you put them together wrong, someone could get hurt. It’s complicated. Get started. Make arrangements with Dad to go in when the shop is closed and let him teach you. See if you actually even like it.”

Puck interrupted. “I have to go soon. I’m going to say what I have to say.”

Kurt nodded.

“Finn, you’re being an ass. A grade A ass. You don’t want to work hard. So what? You’re mom has spoiled you, but the gig’s up, dude. You’re not a kid anymore. You can drive a car. Get a job. Become a man. High school chicks might dig the quarterback because he’s top dog, but when we graduate, no chick’s gonna want a man-boy. Get a grip. This isn’t the 1960s. The girls our age don’t know how to sew or cook any more than we do. Or how to use power tools or build stuff. They cut those classes from the junior high curriculum a while back. We don’t get taught how to do anything useful in school. Practically no one’s life is ever going to depend on whether they can factor polynomials or climb a rope high enough to ring a damn bell. But sewing repairs? That’s expensive. Try taking something to the drycleaners like a shirt with a missing button. I dare you. Go down there when they’re open and ask how much they charge to sew on a button. If it’s less than $5, I’ll give you $5 myself. Re-hemming some pants? Putting what are they, Kurt? The seams in the backs of the shirts?”

“Darts.”

“Putting darts in your shirts so they aren’t baggy around the waist because we have broad shoulders. The amount of money we would have had to spend to get our costumes tailored this year would have been a lot. But Kurt and Tina did it for us for free. I bet every pair of slacks he fixed up would have been $10 or more at a shop. And the dresses, even more probably because they’re more complicated than slacks. We need to learn to do things for ourselves. You sit around and let Carole clean when she’s been gone to work all day. Flip that around. What if you left at 8:00, went to work, and then didn’t come home until 6:00? Would you expect Carole to have done something while you were gone? Or would you be okay with her sitting around and watching TV in her pajamas all day doing nothing but making more dishes dirty? And leaving stuff lay around for you to pick up?”

“No, if she was home, she’d do that stuff herself.”

“Then why don’t you? Look, I have to go pick up Sarah so we can get to Columbus in time to go see the fireworks. But I’m done with this. I work hard. I hardly have any time off. We’ve been friends for a long time, but if you’re going to continue to act like a baby, I’m done. Sarah does a better job of taking care of herself than you do. When you get it together, we can hang out again. Otherwise, I’m outta here.”

“So, you’re just going to dump me like Quinn?”

“I guess so. We’re tired of your childish behavior and we don’t have the time to put up with it or any interest in being friends with a child. And I’ve given you over a month since school got out. I’ve been busting my butt all summer while you sit around here doing nothing but entertaining yourself. When school starts, I’ll be doing school and going to work and still going to Columbus on the weekends. I got minimal time for entertainment. I’m making a future for myself and my sister. You want to talk about unfair. How about me busting my butt to take care of myself and my sister? Where’s the fairness in that? Why isn’t my ma working her butt off to take care of the two of us? Oh, yeah. Because my dad’s a loser and vanished without a trace and we can’t get cash benefits anymore because we reached the limit on those years ago and no one can find him to make him pay child support. And my ma drinks away her paycheck every weekend. Life isn’t fair. Sometimes it sucks. I have to go get Sarah. Let me know when you’ve decided to stop throwing a tantrum.” Puck got up and left.

Carole said, “Maybe you need a different counselor or therapist or whatever. You sounded like you don’t like the guy you’re going to see.”

“I just don’t want to talk to someone I don’t know about stupid stuff.”

“Your life and your future aren’t stupid,” Kurt said. “What do you not like about him?”

“He agrees with you. He says there’s nothing wrong with you. He says that being gay is just as normal as being straight. Something like just because something is less common doesn’t make it weird or wrong. He said being gay is fine. Being straight is fine. But that’s not what everyone else thinks. I think Mom just found someone to agree with you and that the counselor is weird too.”

“There are a few different issues as I see it,” Kurt said. “One – you’re afraid of losing your position as top dog. Two – you seriously believe that being gay is wrong or you are just being stubborn because you don’t want to admit that you were wrong. And three – you don’t want to grow up.”

Finn didn’t respond.

“In regards to the first one, the way to stay on top is to be whatever is most valued by the largest group of people at the school. So, if most of the people value hard work, good grades, and being a good person, then whoever in the student body is most representative of that will be on the top. If the students value good looks, athletic ability, and charm, then whoever has those qualities will be on top. Popularity is fickle. Just look at music and famous people. Who and what is popular changes. In the 70’s, men with a lot of facial and body hair were considered really hot. Now, men who wax and manscape are considered hot. In the 80’s an androgynous look was very popular. That would have been a good time period for me. My looks would have been very ‘in’ during the 80’s. Being popular can’t be your only goal.”

Finn rolled his eyes.

“Two – I honestly think you’re just being a pain in the neck about me being gay. I think if your mom had started to date Paul, that the gay thing would not have been an issue. Dave is the kind of gay guy you don’t mind. Be completely honest.”

“Dave’s a guy. He likes all the same things that guys do. He’s not all prissy and girly. He would never wear a skirt to school or a corsheta.”

Kurt interrupted, “A corset.”

“Whatever. Dave wouldn’t insist on singing with the girls. He wouldn’t have girls as best friends. He’s like totally normal, except that he like guys.”

“It’s me, then.”

“Yes. You’re like this perfect daughter who’s a boy. You’re everything my mom would have wanted in a kid. You’re smart, you’re neat, you cook and clean, you sew, you like to go shopping, you can sit and talk to her about all sorts of stuff. I can’t. All the girls like you. Hell, even Puck likes you now that he’s gotten to know you. You were in the woods dancing with Quinn and she looked so happy. She never looked that happy with me.”

Kurt busted out laughing. “That’s great, Finn. It’s absolutely perfectly ironic. You’re jealous because you think that your mom would like to have a son like me instead of you.” Kurt just shook his head. “You are everything my dad ever wanted in a son. You like everything he likes. The two of you could spend a week together non-stop and never run out of stuff to talk about. You like the same shows, sports, you name it. You got my dad. You got my room. You got my house. And you’re still jealous. This is absurd.” Kurt started to stand.

“Kurt, sit down.”

Kurt sat. “Maybe your mom and I could be friends. I don’t know. I never spend enough time with her to know. She doesn’t sew or design stuff. The other stuff like cleaning, cooking, and shopping – I think she just does those because they need done. I can’t be certain because I’ve not spent much time with her. But she doesn’t own a big selection of cookbooks nor does she have an extensive wardrobe and accessories. So, my assumption is that fashion and cooking are not hobbies of hers.” He looked at Carole.

She shook her head. “They aren’t. I mean I appreciated it when you went out with me that time late last winter and helped me pick out some flattering clothes and an updated hairstyle. But Finn, if I were into those things on my own, why would I have needed someone to help me update my style? I would have known how to do it on my own. And Kurt is right. I cook because we need to eat. In a world where money was no obstacle, I would never cook. I would seriously hire someone else to do it.”

“I wouldn’t,” Kurt said. “I actually enjoy cooking. I enjoy the process of figuring out which herbs and flavors I like. I like trying new foods and new recipes. But if I had to place a bet on what she likes, I’d say 90s rom coms, detective novels with female detectives, and gardening. And she likes to watch cooking competition shows.”

“All true.”

“Oh, and she likes to do word search puzzles or crosswords or some kind of pencil and paper puzzles.”

“Also true.”

“And at some point in time she liked to knit or she goes to craft shows because she has some really lovely hand-knitted scarves and hats.”

“It was me. And thank you.”

“You’re welcome. They really are beautiful.”

She smiled.

“I’m tired of the fighting. If you don’t want to be related to me or associated with me in any way, I can live with that. If that ever changes, you can let me know. Time doesn’t stand still. Two years ago we were getting ready to start high school. Two years from now we will have been out of high school for a month. Dave and I will be planning for our imminent departure to the universities of our choosing. Quinn will be heading to wherever she goes to college. Puck will already be in Columbus. He’s made that abundantly clear. There is not room at his nana’s for him or he would have gone already. But he will be out of here the week after graduation. He’ll be getting his own place for him and his sister. The question is what will you be doing? You can still be sitting in that chair throwing a tantrum about how life isn’t fair and you don’t want to have to work. Or you can be making your way to the future you want for yourself. Carole is obviously infinitely more patient than I am because I’m done. I’ve never done anything to hurt you personally, which you cannot say truthfully about me. I never retaliated. I thought we were sort of on good terms last fall when you helped me try out for the football team.”

Finn said nothing.

“Here’s what I see. You can stop me when I’m wrong. Quinn broke up with you, and your back-up plan of keeping Rachel on the back burner blew up in your face when you broke up with her to go out with Santana and Brittany and she didn’t take you back afterwards. So, you lost two girlfriends because you’re a terrible boyfriend. Cheating on your first with the second, and then breaking up with the second to go out with two other girls, only to want the second one back when someone else has an interest in her. Lame. Rachel stuck with Jesse who is a better performer than you. He has more training and more experience. You liked being in Glee because Rachel and Mr. Schuester made you feel like your membership in the group is what made the group possible. Rachel fed your ego, but when Jesse enrolled, that got messed up. Rachel didn’t break it off with him and get back with you. You were fine with me being on the football team because you knew none of the other guys would accept me as part of the group, so there was no risk to your position. And me kicking field goals actually increased the chance of the team winning, so bonus for you because winning teams are more popular than losing teams. Then I got MVP and I think that ticks you off a lot. You thought you’d get MVP. You can have whatever coach we get this fall look through the records to see if he thinks Miss P did it wrong. I have no idea. I won’t fight you if someone says it was calculated wrong. I didn’t expect to win it. But being mad at me because I won something you think you deserved when I wasn’t the one who made the decision on who earned it is dumb.”

“Well, Finn?” Carole asked.

“He’s right so far. It sucks. I lost everything.”

“But you losing ‘everything’ as you call it has nothing to do with me personally. I didn’t force you to kiss Rachel when you were still with Quinn. When you realized that you were more attracted to Rachel than to Quinn, you should have broken up with Quinn, and then asked Rachel out. And then you should have been faithful to Rachel. And if you want to be MVP, practice more. Do whatever it is that puts you in the position to win the award. If it’s based on accuracy, work with Puck on passes. He’s the one that needs to catch what you throw. I know nothing about how the award recipient is chosen, but figure it out and work hard to get it if you want it. Back to the losing everything – I think you’re mad at Puck and Azimio because they stepped in and got the job done for the football team. They took a position of leadership away from Coach Tanaka who wasn’t doing his job. They wanted to win, so they did what it took to turn us into a winning team. If you want wanted to be a part of that, you should have stepped up and helped them, but that would have required you to work hard. Anyway, the key to gaining back everything you lost is in your hands. You can sit and wallow or you get off your butt and make yourself into the kind of guy a girl wants for a boyfriend. You can make yourself a better quarterback – work out, throw footballs, whatever. If you want to be top dog in Glee, take some dance lessons and some voice lessons. You’re a naturally talented singer, but everyone has room for improvement and your dance skills leave a lot to be desired. Spend the rest of the summer improving your math skills. They have free tutors at the library. That’s where Dave is working, but there are other tutors there. You don’t have to let Dave help you. Study your Spanish vocabulary for the rest of summer if you’re taking it again this fall. Be ready for school to start. That’s my pep talk. If you want something bad enough, get up and make it happen. If not, stop whining about it and being mad at people who are making it happen for themselves.” Kurt paused. “And you’re not exactly a homophobe, more of a sexist effeminophobe.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, the sexist part means that you think men and masculinity are inherently better than women and femininity. And effeminophobia is being afraid of and disliking people with feminine traits, mostly used in the context of gay men.”

“Too many words.”

“You think that “girly” men are gross.   That’s the most watered down way I think of to explain it.”

“Well, it’s just weird and wrong. Men should be manly and women should be girly. Men shouldn’t have to cook and clean and take care of kids and stuff. That’s what moms do. Dads like do the lawn and fix cars and stuff.”

“Well, that explains just about everything. Finn is effeminophobic, misogynistic, and jealous. And he’s angry that he is single and possibly won’t be top dog next fall. There is nothing more for me to add to this discussion. He’s free to dislike effeminate guys and to view and treat women however he sees fit. He can work hard or not. He is free to feel the way he does. I am who I am, and I’m not changing for him.” Kurt stood again. “I’m done unless there’s something else Carole or Dad wants to ask me.”

“Next Friday?”

“Nope. Not with Finn. He wins. I will have dinner with you and Carole. He can eat in his room. When he decides he wants to be an adult and eat adult food and have adult dinner conversations, he can rejoin us. I’m tired of spending every Friday afternoon making a nice dinner for everyone to just sit in this room at this table in silence. It’s asinine. So, it’s your choice. You can let me know. I have a date with some fireworks. I’ll see you at work tomorrow, Dad.”

Dave got up and followed Kurt out of the dining room and out of the house. Kurt handed Dave his keys and Dave got in the driver’s seat. Paul came out the door before Dave pulled out of the driveway and hopped in the back seat.

“I’m in the mood for ice cream. Let’s get some after we pick Quinn and Judy up.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Do you have anything you want to talk about, Finn?” Carole asked.

“Not really.”

“If you need dance lessons, you can look into it and get prices and let me know what you decide. We can’t do it forever, but if it’s something you could do between now and when football starts, I can do that. I think you should consider the free tutoring at the library. You didn’t pass the math portion of the OGTs. You have to keep retaking it until you pass. And since you didn’t pass, it’s a good indication that you’re not ready to move on to the next math class in the fall.”

“Just shut up already. God, enough already.”

Burt finally spoke. “Look, Finn, you’re a lot like I was at your age. I hated school. I thought it was stupid. I played football and dated cheerleaders. Now, I will tell you I didn’t cheat. That needs to stop. Girls don’t deserve that. If you don’t want to date whoever you’re dating anymore, be up front and break it off before you take up with another girl. That’s just the way things need to be. Don’t say yes if you don’t mean it and say no when you want it to be over. Don’t toy with girls. They don’t deserve to be treated that way.”

“I know. I suck. I know. I get it.”

“What I was saying is that I’ve been where you are. And I managed to snag Lizzie, Kurt’s mom, who was an absolute angel and she put up with my crap for a while. I grew up though and made a man of myself and went to JC, junior college. I had to take things I should have learned in high school just to do the stuff I needed to know how to do to help run my dad’s shop. But I was good with my hands and I could fix most anything just him and just like Kurt. I made it because I had a talent that I honed by working at it until I got really good at it. Being talented isn’t enough. Just like Kurt was saying about that Jesse kid. He may not have had any more natural talent than you as a singer, but he took lessons or whatever and got better at it. You can’t go into adulthood and just rest on your talent or charm or good looks to get you places. That works in high school because some dweeb will do your history report for you to avoid getting picked on for a week. I’m not saying that you’ve done that, but I did. I know it still goes on.”

“It does.”

“Honey, if you don’t like the guy you’re going to see, we can find someone new. You didn’t want to talk to one of us and you were clearly distressed. If you want to talk to us, that’s fine. If you want to find someone new, that’s fine too. But bottling everything up and blaming other people for your own choices and actions or lack of action isn’t acceptable.”

“I get it, but I don’t know how to change.”

“It isn’t easy. But if you actually want to change, we will help you in any way that we can. But you aren’t going to get better at anything by sitting in front of the TV for the rest of the summer.”

“I know.”

“I’m going to get you some paper and you can think of three small goals. And then come up with a list of ways to achieve those three goals this week.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt hosed the center of the yard down while Dave went and grabbed a couple of concrete blocks from the garage and put them in the middle. After he finished the yard, Kurt filled a bucket with water and put it on the retaining wall around the patio.

“I think we’re set,” Paul said. “Just another 15 minutes or so and it will be completely dark. He laid the grill lighter next to the fireworks on the other retaining wall. He went back in and carried out the pizzas and put them on the patio table.

Everyone sat down and grabbed slices of pizza.

“This was a good idea,” Kurt said.

“Thanks.” Paul teased, “I have them occasionally.”

Kurt laughed.

They polished off the pizzas between the five of them. Paul cleared the table while Dave, Kurt, and Quinn chose the order of the fireworks and lined them up on the retaining wall.

“So the order of their fate has been chosen, I see.” Judy said, when she came back from the garage.

“Yep,” Dave said.

Judy aimed the flashlight in her hand at the concrete blocks. “Let’s get the show started.” Without the three of them noticing, she managed to get some photos of Kurt sitting on the retaining wall leaning back against Dave’s chest with Dave’s hands on Kurt’s shoulders and Quinn leaning back against Kurt with his arms wrapped around her waist watching the fireworks.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt sat on the counter with Dave standing between his knees doing his evening moisturizing routine for him. Kurt rearranged himself.

“Again? After twice in the shower?”

“I thought maybe the second time would wear me out and stop it from happening again while you did this, but God it’s such a turn on.” He leaned forward and kissed Dave. “I can do it myself if you want.”

“Nuh uh. I like doing it. It makes you feel good.” He finished what he was doing.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After Dave cleaned Kurt up, he scooped him up and carried him to the bed, tossed him in gently, and climbed over him, pausing in the middle to kiss him. “You are gorgeous.” He kissed down his neck to his shoulder. “And smart.”   He moved down his arm, continuing to kiss him. “And kind.” He moved to the other wrist. “And feisty.” He kissed up to his shoulder. “And sexy.” He kissed up his neck to his ear. “And mine. I love you.” He reached down the headboard and flipped the switch to turn the lights off and moved to his own side of the bed and lay down on his side.

Kurt rolled towards him and scooted close. “I love you too. This was the best Fourth of July, even with Finn’s stupid tantrum. I got to spend the day with my friends, my dad, and my boyfriend. Seeing Mercedes was a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to her and Tina coming back. The cookout was fun. Puck’s little sister is cute.”

“She is. I had fun today too. I liked the cones we got, and the fountains.”

“Me too. And the movie your dad got for all of us to watch was really funny.”

“Jackie Chan is really funny. I loved the spy gadgets.”

“I’m exhausted in the best possible way. Will you hold me?”

“Always. How do you want me to hold you?”

“Slide your arm under my pillow and be the big spoon.” Kurt kissed him. “I love you.” Kurt’s voice trailed off.

“Roll over, Fancy.” Dave snuggled up and wrapped his arm around Kurt and held him close. He kissed him on the back of the neck. “I love you too.”

Kurt barely squeezed Dave’s hand. Within a couple of minutes, his breathing had evened out and he was sound asleep.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Nearly a week later, at the next Friday Night Family Dinner, Kurt and Dave brought everything to make their version of Chipotle burritos. By the time everything was ready, Burt and Carole were home.

“It smells good in here,” Burt said when he came into the kitchen. “It looks good too.”

“Do you want to just assemble them in here or do you want us to carry all of the fillings into the dining room?” Kurt asked.

“Just leave them here. We can carry our burritos into the other room and eat.”

Kurt handed him a plate and let him go through, and then he wrapped and rolled Burt’s burrito for him before he left the kitchen. Carole came in a few minutes later and they followed the same pattern. Kurt and Dave stuffed theirs and headed into the dining room.

“So, how’s this week been?” Burt asked.

“Well, you were there for most of it. Lots of cars to fix, tires to change and rotate, lots of oil changes.”

“Same things as usual,” Burt agreed. “How about you, Dave?”

“I was surprised to see Finn at the library starting the math program.”

“He’s making progress, little by little. We’re looking for someone else for him to see. I’m looking for someone with more of a disability clientele. Finn’s never been diagnosed with anything, but he just doesn’t seem to get how to plan or problem solve. I think somewhere along the lines, he failed to learn that in school. I thought maybe someone more accustomed to dealing with people with issues other than depression and anxiety might be more useful.”

“That’s possible. If the teachers in the lower grades just passed him along, it’s possible that he didn’t learn things he actually needed to know in order to learn more efficiently later. Like we used to have to identify the main point of a story and then come up with supporting evidence. We didn’t actually have to write a paper, but it was kind of like writing a paper without the extra words, if that makes sense. And we used to have to make up our own word problems. Like our teacher would give us a sheet with like 14-8=6 on it and we had to write a story problem for it. Sally had 14 apples and she gave 8 to John. How many did she have left? That kind of thing.”

“I don’t remember his teachers doing anything like either of those things.”

“Well, we didn’t go to the same elementary school, so maybe he just didn’t learn things he should have, like you said. Or maybe he has a learning disability that no one ever checked for because he seems fine.”

“I guess anything is possible. I didn’t realize it was a problem until I tried to get him to write three short-term goals and the steps he’d need to take to accomplish them in one week and he couldn’t do it, at all. I knew the papers he’s been writing for me have been terribly written, but I didn’t get onto him for it because he was at least doing it and I wanted him to learn from what he was reading, not discourage him by nagging him about his grammar and organization. I actually figured he might be writing them so poorly just to annoy me because I was making him do it, but maybe he really needs some kind of intervention, like a study skills course.”

“I hate to tell you, but the teachers just give the popular jocks C’s, even if their work is terrible. Coach Tanaka encouraged lenient grading based on how much time the jocks had to spend at practice each week.”

“That is not helpful,” she said.

“It is if you want to keep a bunch of no-nothings on the football team.”

“But it’s wrong.”

“It is. Hopefully, whoever the school hires for this year won’t be like that. It might be something you’d want to discuss with the new coach.”

“I will. It doesn’t do the students any good to not actually learn the material, but it does help me understand his attitude a little better. He has such a huge entitlement attitude. And if even the teachers are playing into that by giving the top jocks C’s with no effort, it’s no wonder that he ends up feeling like he’s owed something that he’s not.”

“I didn’t think about it that way, but you’re right. Everyone has always just deferred to him from what I can tell. He was the tallest. He’s been the quarterback for four years. He just got used to getting whatever he wanted because he wanted it. And now that it isn’t happening, he feels miffed about it, like he’s being singled out and having things taken from him,” Kurt said.

Dave said, “I didn’t go to middle school with him or play football last year, but Azimio said he came in and acted the part. He was taller than the guy who should have been quarterback that was a senior, and he had played with Puck as his running back for a few years already. The running back the team had was not really any good. So, when Finn and Puck had the ability to work together, Tanaka just put Finn as quarterback as a freshman, which is really unusual. So, he got a big head from the get go.”

“I guess I never really thought about his position compared to his age or maturity. It’s just a game to me. He had been quarterback ever since he started playing, so it was just like a continuation of the norm that I never considered why a junior or senior didn’t have that position.”

Kurt said, “The same was true for Quinn. I think Quinn was the first ever freshman to be chosen as head Cheerio,” Kurt said. “There are still girls who are mad about it. Girls that were friends with the seniors who graduated last year and who were seniors this past year. They thought she didn’t deserve it, but they had to kowtow to Coach Sylvester’s whims without questioning her.”

“I see. So, it was the freshman dream team who dated each other because they were top of the heap, according to what you said. And Finn didn’t disagree with you – like it was just common knowledge that the quarterback and the head Cheerio would date.”

“It pretty much is. And the rest of the first-string football players date the rest of the Cheerios. Finn liking Rachel didn’t fit the high school rules. And she’s very intense. So, I would imagine that she scared him with her coordinated cat calendars with their dates preprinted on them.”

Carole burst out laughing. “Her what?”

“She showed them to me. She was very proud of them. You say he can’t plan. Rachel is like the complete opposite of that. She plans everything. E-ver-y-thing.”

“I can see how the two of them together could be a giant disaster. He’d just let her do everything.”

Burt said, “I can see how it would be very appealing to him in a way though. Not having to make any decisions can be very freeing when the process of making them is so muddled for him right now.”

“So, what’s new with you, Carole?”

“Nothing really, except that the doctor’s office I work in has decided to become fashionable. We have five different colored scrubs now and we have to wear them on the correct day of the week. So, if you come in a Monday, we will all be in teal. Tuesday, mulberry. Wednesday – royal blue. Thursday – purple. And Friday – rose quartz. The doctor had an interior designer come in and the wallpaper in the hallway has been changed to jewel tones. And the kid’s rooms have been painted with scenes that could be from the Little Mermaid. The adult rooms have been painted in more muted tones on the upper half, with underwater framed artwork hanging up.”

“Interesting. Were you given a reason?”

“Nope. Just informed it was happening and we were given an allowance on the uniforms in a catalog. We could order whatever style we wanted – skirts, slacks, long-sleeved, short-sleeved, pullover, snaps, whatever. They just have to be the correct color.”

“So, you got more freedom in style choices, but no choice in color. It will look a lot more professional I think. Walking in and being able to quickly identify who works there be will easier, not that it was hard before. But I bet it does look nice.”

“I’ll tell you next week. It start this coming Monday. Any upcoming plans?”

“We’re going to some other places still this summer. We haven’t decided yet,” Dave said. “We’re going shopping with Quinn again before school starts and also with Sarah and Puck. She’s turning 8 and he’s letting her pick out her own clothes for the first time.”

“That will be fun.”

Kurt said, “I think so.”

Burt asked, “How’s the tutoring going?”

“It’s fine. Most of the people who come in seem to like the set up. Some people stay all afternoon and others just come in for an hour or so. Most of the people are coming in for math.”

“Have you looked at that college stuff?”

“I have. I’ve been thinking about it. I’ll tell you about it at some point. I’ll bring my notes to work and we can talk about it over lunch or something. I don’t want to try to talk about it without the notes I have.”

Dave said, “I’ll go get the fruit salad. We put it in the fridge to chill for a while.” He cleared the plates on his way out of the room.

“There’s enough for one more burrito. I’ll go make it and store it in he freezer.”

“Thanks,” Burt said.

Once they had finished the fruit salad, Kurt and Dave cleared everything and loaded the dishwasher.

Burt came into the kitchen. “It was good to have dinner with the two of you.”

Dave nodded and waved on his way to the door.

Kurt stayed back and hugged Burt. “You too, Dad.”

“I’ll see you, Monday. Bring those college notes.”

“I will.”


	18. Chapter 18

A week after the confrontation with Finn, Burt walked past Kurt when he was removing a tire. “Hey, Dad. I still have those notes like you wanted. We can talk whenever you have time.”

“Maybe we could go somewhere after your shift.”

“Sure.” He finished the steps to get the tire off, wiped his hands and texted Dave letting him know that he would be back late. He went back to the tire rotation job he was working on.

At the end of his shift, he and Burt met at Lotus House. They ordered at the counter and waited to be seated. Once they sat down, Kurt pulled out the notes he had.

“I did a lot of research on Columbia and New York City and what student athletes have to do in general. I found out that student athletes spend an average of 38 hours a week on sports related activities – practicing, workouts, games, traveling, etc. That’s the equivalent of a full time job. And Columbia doesn’t offer a degree in what I want to study. I could study other things that would be interesting, of course. But I’m not really convinced that being a Division 1 college football player would be a good choice for me. I know a full scholarship sounds like a great deal financially, and it is, but to spend nearly 40 hours a week doing something that doesn’t really interest me and would take a lot of effort, I don’t think that’s what I want to do.”

“I see.”

“You’re disappointed.”

“Well, yeah. I thought you could play ball and go to school in New York like you want. But I never looked into how many hours the players spend practicing and stuff.”

“I don’t think I’d ever have time to do anything besides schoolwork and football. And it would be different if I loved football. I don’t mind being the kicker. I spent about 8 hours a week practicing and playing during football season. I can’t imagine an additional 30 hours of football-related activities.”

“I get it.”

“I’d rather move to New York and live there for a year and not go to school so I could establish New York residency and pay in-state tuition. The SUNY schools are less than $10,000 a year for tuition. I did a little research on other schools in New York City, but I need to do more.”

The server brought their food out. Kurt put his notebook back in the seat next to him.

“I can show you what I’ve already found. I wrote down the different schools and the cost of tuition and room and board if they offer it.”

“Sure. Let’s eat. We can talk now and I can look at the numbers and stuff after we finish.”

Kurt nodded and started to eat. “Are we just going to stay at this impasse with Carole and Finn?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you didn’t even defend me last Sunday. Are you effeminophobic too? Do you feel the same way Finn does?”

“I don’t know. And that bothers me. I want you to be yourself, kiddo. But I’ll be honest with you, sometimes I don’t get why you have to make such a spectacle of yourself. Why do you wear kilts to school? You know it’s not going to be accepted. You knew the other guys would hate it. You don’t have to live here forever, but you know ‘when in Rome’?”

Kurt held back tears. “So you love me, but you want me to be less me?”

“I just don’t get why being ‘you’, as you put it, has to involve wearing girly clothes. I mean he does have a point. Why do the other guys have to change they way they think to fit your version of how things should be?”

“They don’t. They can just keep their mouths shut about it.”

“The way you do about stirrup pants?”

Kurt rolled his eyes.

“It goes both ways you know. You’re so damn critical of their haircuts, their clothing choices, their lack of manners, and whatnot. You call them Neanderthals. Why do you expect them to say nothing about your make up, kilts, skin, and hair care products?”

“Look. I’ve given until I have nothing left to give. I moved out. I’m paying for everything in my life myself. If you want to take Finn’s side, that’s fine. It’s a free country, and you’re allowed your opinion. This wouldn’t even be an issue two years from now. If you had met Carole my senior year and had her move in right after graduation, this wouldn’t even be an issue because I would be moving on with my life. You know I have no intention of living in Lima for any longer than I have to. There are places where I will fit in. I’m planning to live one of those places. Of course, there’s nowhere where everyone will like me, but I will find a place where I am comfortable being myself. I won’t fight you on this. You are still my dad and I love you. I can think you’re wrong and still love you. We can talk at work, and I can tell you anything new about my life when I see you there. We have nothing else in common.”

“Kurt…”

“What do you want me to say, Dad? That I’ll come back and live in the basement bedroom with Finn? That you’ll clean your office out upstairs and I can have that as my room? That I can sleep in the garage? None of those will work. I’m happy at Paul’s. I don’t want to move back and live with Finn.”

“We’re going to get him help.”

“That’s fine. He clearly needs some academic help, and maybe some other type. I don’t know. But he was right when he said that he has the right to feel however he feels about this stuff. He has the right to feel that men shouldn’t be feminine. He has the right to feel that being gay is wrong. Having the right to feel a certain way doesn’t make the feeling itself right. But I’m not going to be the one to deny him his right to feel whatever he feels. That would be really hypocritical of me. I feel attracted to men. I don’t want people to tell me that my feelings are wrong. I’m not going to tell Finn that his feelings are wrong. I’m just not going to talk to Finn unless I have to.”

“This isn’t what I want.”

“I know. Do you honestly think this is how I thought things would be six months ago? Six months ago, you and Paul were becoming good friends. We were spending a lot of time together – the four of us. He was already dating Judy, but he didn’t let that interfere with being friends with you and spending time with Dave. But when you starting dating Carole, you moved so quickly. I know you were both lonely, but she should have taken the time to talk to Finn about everything. Surprising him was a terrible idea. And forcing the move when he was clearly unhappy about it was an even worse idea.”

“I get that. She couldn’t just move back into their house. She gave notice she was moving out and the owner had already found a new tenant. She’d been renting there for ages and the rent was low and everything is a lot more expensive to rent now.”

“Still none of that has anything to do with me or Finn. That’s something the two of you should have talked about. You’d only known each other a month. And if it had just been the two of you, that would have been fine, but it wasn’t just the two of you. And now, things are a mess. But I am not a child. And I am fine. Like I said, if this had happened two years in the future, there would have been no problems to start with. I don’t want you to be angry with me, though. I just can’t be who you want me to be or who Finn wants me to be when I have another option. Maybe I could survive living in the office for two years. Maybe I could build myself a room in part of the garage and get a free-standing heater and air conditioner if I had to. Or maybe if I didn’t have the option of staying at Paul’s, you would have been more willing to buy a bigger house with three bedrooms. I don’t know. Maybe you’re just happier without me. But whatever the real reason is that you won’t buy a bigger house, it just doesn’t matter. I’m going to go home to Paul’s where I feel welcome. We can just fast forward two years to where you and I are at the stage where you’re still my dad, but I’ve moved out and started my own life. No anger, no resentment. Just moving on. But for that to work, you have to let go of the notion that I’m going to move back in.”

Burt nodded. They both sat and ate silently for a while. Once Kurt finished eating, he wiped his hands and moved his plate to the side. He opened the notebook back up and turned it so that Burt could see it.

“From what I’ve found so far, the State University of New York has a lot of campuses. It’s sort of like Ohio State and the Lima Campus, except that a lot of the SUNY branches are larger than OSU Lima. The tuition and room and board are comparably priced to the state schools in Ohio. Then there are private schools like Columbia and NYU where the tuition alone is over $50,000 a year. Obviously, that is not in my price range.”

“Wow, that’s a hefty chunk of change. $200,000 for a four-year program, plus your cost of living there?”

“Exactly. So, if I want to go to a school in New York City, I’m going to have to do more research because I didn’t find any smaller schools that offer what I want to study yet. Some of the SUNY campuses do, but not the ones in New York City, at least I haven’t found one yet.”

“So, you said something about moving there for a year so you could pay in-state tuition?”

“From what I read, that’s the only way to not pay nearly double the tuition.”

“I see. So, what would you do for a year?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t gotten that far yet. I figured I’d just find a town I could afford to live in on a job I can get and live there, like any other adult. And then I’d apply to go to college and start a year later than I normally would. I haven’t actually decided to do that. It’s just something I thought of. It would make about a $40,000-$50,000 difference in the cost of tuition over a four year period. It’s just something that came to mind, not an actual plan. Obviously, I’d have to do a lot more research. Plus, I think I’d like to work on Broadway because it seems like the most amazing job ever, but I want to go to New York City. I want to make an informed decision. I’ll be doing a lot more research.”

“Sounds like it.” Burt finished eating and pushed his plate aside as well.

The server took their plates. It wasn’t crowded, so they stayed and continued to talk.

“So, are we okay then? Finn will no longer be a topic of discussion. Whatever you and Carole decide is best for him is up to you. I don’t want to be included in knowing what’s going on with him. When, or if, he changes his mind and wants to attempt to be friends or stepbrothers, you can tell me, and the four of us can sit down together again. And I’ve said it before, but I’m willing to spend time with Carole. She seems very sweet, but she’s made no effort to spend time with me. I thought we hit it off pretty well when we first went out not long after you started dating, but I’m guessing the issues with Finn are taking up her time, plus she has the whole house to take care of unless you and Finn have started helping out more.”

“I’ll tell her.”

“I’m going to keep researching. I’ll let you know what I figure out. I might need to pick up more hours at the shop during the school year than I worked last year. I’m going to have to save up a lot to be able to live in New York.”

“After you find out about football practices, you can let me know. There might not even be a team if the school didn’t hire a new coach.”

“That’s true. We’ll just have to see when practices are scheduled. I’m going to get going. Thanks for dinner. It was really good.”

“You’re welcome.” Burt didn’t move to get up.

Kurt picked his notebook up and left the restaurant.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Nearly four weeks had passed since their Fourth of July outing at the lake and Sarah was more than ready for their shopping trip. Her 8th birthday had come and gone and she had been counting down the days for her birthday celebration. She and Puck were sitting on the front steps waiting when Dave and Kurt pulled up.

“Kurt! Dave!” Sarah jumped up.

They got out of the Navigator and stood on the sidewalk.

“Are you ready?” Kurt asked her.

“I am, but Carlos isn’t here yet.”

“I see.”

“There he is. That’s his mom’s car.” She pointed to a car driving slowly over a speed bump.

There weren’t any more spots open in front of the apartment, so she parked down a ways. They got out and walked down the sidewalk towards Sarah, who was bouncing in place.

Puck said, “Hey, Mrs. Garcia. Thanks for bringing Carlos over.”

“No problem. He’s super excited.”

“There are my friends Kurt and Dave.”

She reached out to shake their hands. “It’s nice to meet the two of you. Carlos, why don’t you and Sarah run in and use the bathroom before you go out?”

“Okay, Mom.”

Sarah opened the apartment door and Carlos followed her inside.

“Can I speak to you alone for a minute, Kurt?”

“Sure.” He followed her back down to her car.

She leaned up against it. “Look, I hope it’s not a big deal, but Sarah told me that you and Dave are boyfriends?”

“That’s true, and it’s not a secret.”

“Good. Sarah has talked a lot about how excited she is about going shopping with you, and Carlos got just as excited when she asked him to go with her.”

“Can I ask why you said ‘good’? That’s not the usual response I get.”

“I’m sure it’s not. My husband, Gabriel, and I are pretty sure that Carlos is gay. He may not know a word for it yet, but he might. We haven’t used that word specifically, but he watches Disney movies and talks about meeting a prince some day too. He’s not really into anything overly feminine, except he loves clothes – the brighter the better.”

Kurt laughed.

“Sarah is his best friend and his other good friends are mostly girls too. He’s a little smaller than the other boys in his grade, but his dad’s family and my family are small people. His dad’s just 5’6”. He’s not going to be a big guy. But I just want you to know that I’d actually appreciate it if you and Dave behave like a couple. I want him to see that he can grow up to be himself, whoever that is. And he can be happy and find someone to love him. It’s going to be hard. My husband’s family is devoutly Catholic. They won’t take it well when they find out. I just want Carlos to see that a boy having a boyfriend is just as normal as a boy having a girlfriend.”

Kurt was stunned silent for a couple of minutes. He wiped his eyes.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s just that I just had a flash of seeing how my mom would have been like you. I’m sure of it. Thanks. I can’t even tell you how happy it makes me that there are moms like you out there. We’ll have fun. Did he bring some money to buy clothes?”

“Oh, yeah. He’s been saving up, plus I gave him money. We usually go shopping a couple of weeks before school, but this is fine. It’s just a couple of weeks early for us. He knows what he likes. Just make sure he doesn’t buy things that are too much too big. A little growing room is fine, but like I said, he’s not destined to be a big guy.” She handed him a kid’s wallet. “He wanted to put it in his pocket, but I told him that it might fall out when he climbs through all that stuff in the playland.”

Kurt took it from her and put it in his pocket. “Why don’t you give me your cell phone number and if he picks anything out that seems a little too far out there or he wants something that doesn’t seem even remotely practical, I can text you a picture and you can approve or veto his choice.”

“Good idea.” She took Kurt’s phone and put her number in and handed it back. “He has a shopping list with price ranges marked on it in the wallet. He’s also been looking online at the GAP, Old Navy, Children’s Place, and I don’t remember where else.”

Kurt laughed. “This will be fun. Will he get in trouble if he comes back with his nails painted? I know Sarah wanted me to do hers.”

“No. His dad won’t care, but just let him decide.”

“I usually only do my toenails, so maybe he’d prefer that.”

“Whatever he wants. It’s not like it’s a tattoo. A bit of nail polish remover and it’s solved if he decides he wants it off tomorrow.”

“That’s true. None of us are old enough for tattoos, but I make no promise about the temporary ones. I figured that they’d end up with some of those from Chuck E. Cheese.”

“I’m sure. He doesn’t have any allergies, but I don’t let him drink anything with caffeine in it.”

“Got it.” He pressed her number on his phone and then ended the call. “Now, you have my number if you need it for anything.”

Sarah came down the sidewalk. “Come on, Kurt. We’re ready to do our nails.” She pulled Kurt towards the apartment.

“It was nice to meet you.”

“You too.”

Kurt followed Sarah into the apartment.

“I got little kit for my birthday with 6 different colors in it,” Sarah said as she led Kurt to the kitchen table.

“Ooh, that’s nice. Take your sandals off.”

“Will you do mine too?” Carlos asked.

“Of course. I brought a couple of colors as well.” Kurt pulled out two bottles of nail polish, one black, one a deep iridescent blue. He sat down and took his shoes off.

“Come on Noah, take your shoes off,” Sarah said.

Puck sat down in one of the chairs and took his shoes off. “I’ll have the black.”

“I think I want that bright orange,” Carlos pointed to one of Sarah’s small bottles on the table.

“I want magenta, please,” Sarah said.

Carlos asked, “What about you, Dave?”

Dave said, “Umm. I think the blue that Kurt brought.”

“That’s the color I’m doing mine too,” Kurt said.

They took turns getting theirs done and waiting in between coats.

Carlos asked, “Why didn’t you do your fingernails, Kurt?”

“I’m a mechanic and I fix cars and I knock my hands against the car parts all the time. So, I don’t usually do my fingernails because they look terrible after one day at work. It just doesn’t seem worth the effort since it’s ruined in one day.”

“Oh. I guess that makes sense.”

“What about you, Dave?”

“I’ve just never done mine before. I never really thought about why. Maybe I will someday, but for today, my toenails are good enough.”

Carlos said, “The black looks cool on you, Noah, but I like the bright orange.”

“Thanks. Sarah, since yours are dry, why don’t you go put these back in your room?”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“I want to get a magenta hoodie and Carlos is getting the bright orange one. Can you help us find the right size?”

Dave started looking through the stack. “Try this one.”

Sarah slipped it on. “I think it’s too big even to grow into.”

Puck came up from behind. “Are you going to grow your arms extra long, squirt?”

“No, I just said this one is too big. Dave’s looking for a smaller one. Did you find some shoes to try?”

“I did. They’re in the cart that Kurt is pushing over here.”

“Here, Sarah. Try this one.”

She gave him the first one back and put the next one on. “This one is the right size. A little big, but not ginormous. Find the same size in orange for Carlos, please.”

Dave pulled an orange on out of the stack and handed it to Carlos and he put it on. “Perfect. I love it. I’m going to keep it on for right now. Can Kurt help me find track pants?”

“Sure. We’ll go sit on that bench over there so Sarah can try this shoes on,” Dave said.

Kurt nodded and led Carlos to the racks with track pants on them. He pulled out the shopping list. “So, it says three pairs of track pants – dark colors.”

“Yeah, that’s so it’s easier to keep them looking nice and bright shirts look better with contrasting pants.”

“Good points. So, how about these? They’re 3 for $20.”

“That’s a good price. There’s black, dark blue, and brown, which is kind of boring, but actually looks pretty good with dark red, orange, or bright blue. Can you help me find my size?”

Kurt pulled out the ones he wanted and put them over the cart. He looked at Carlos’ list. “It says two pairs of jeans, but they don’t sell those here. And it says quarter socks. I’m sure they have those here. And five t-shirts.”

“There were some that were kind of cool, but I don’t really like sports, so let’s see if we can find some t-shirts somewhere else.”

“Good plan. Let’s go see if Sarah found some new sneakers.”

They met back up and gathered up their selections and headed to the cashier. Puck handed Kurt $11 for Sarah’s hoodie because if they bought them separately, they didn’t get the discount.

Once they were through the line, they put the bags in the back of the Navigator and headed back to the stores.

“We have to go to the Children’s Place,” Carlos said when he saw the sign down the way. “Online I saw that they have cool boys’ clothes with stuff like alligators and sharks on them instead of sports stuff.”

“Alright, Children’s Place is next,” Puck said.

“Why do Kurt and Dave call you Puck and Sarah calls you Noah?”

“Oh, well, my first name is Noah. Noah Elijah Puckerman. Puck just became my nickname because the guys on the football team called my by my last name, and just ended up shortening it to Puck.”

“Oh, okay.” He turned his questions to Dave. “How long have you and Kurt been boyfriends?”

“10 months, so not quite a year. It will be a year in September.”

“That’s cool.”

“I think so too,” Dave said. “I had a crush on him for a long time before I got the nerve up to tell him.”

“Really? How long?”

“A year.”

“A whole year and you didn’t tell him?”

“I was afraid. Some of the other jocks aren’t nice to guys who like guys instead of liking girls.”

“But then you got unafraid and told him?”

“I did.”

Carlos said, “Sometimes people are really mean. But I just try to find the nice people to be friends with.”

“That’s a good way to do it. There will always be mean people. Some people are just mean. But there are also nice people and it’s best to find them and ignore the mean people.”

“Yep. We’re here.” He grabbed Kurt’s hand and dragged him in. “You’re going to love it in here. They have the best boys’ clothes ever.”

Kurt laughed and let Carlos lead him around the store for a few minutes before they ran into Sarah and Puck who were standing in the clearance section looking through the racks.

The sleeveless dresses were on clearance. And after Kurt explained to Sarah that they could be worn all year-round by putting a turtleneck and leggings on underneath, she grabbed a bunch to try on.

Fifteen minutes later, Sarah was on her fifth dress, modeling for the four guys who oohed and ahhed over her. In the end, she had 10 that she liked. They headed to the turtlenecks and leggings and Puck convinced her that 8 outfits was enough. One for every day of the week and one to wear while she did her laundry.

Carlos helped her find 8 matching sets that went with several of the dresses each, which was the upside to shopping in a store that specialized in mix-and-match clothing to simplify getting kids dressed. Puck was thrilled that was going to cost less than $90 for 8 complete outfits.

“Next t-shirts,” Carlos said. “And I need one more hoodie. Look on the list.”

Kurt pulled it out again.

“Oh, yeah. Two pairs of jeans.”

The six of them searched and found a bright electric blue hoodie that he loved and the rest of the items on his list. All for about $50.

“I have $15 left of my money, so I can buy anything I want to with that. Plus my mom gave me money to buy boots, but she wrote something very specific on the back. If we can’t find that, she said not to get any today.”

Kurt turned the list over and read it. “There’s a kids shoe store. We’ll go there. What other stores do you to want to go in?”

“I want to get one of those ginormous apples, please Noah? I saw them when we walked down this way.”

“Sure, squirt, but let’s put these bags in the Nav.”

“Can I wear one of the new dresses right now?”

“You can change into one in the backseat. The windows are tinted. So, no one can see you.”

“Okay.”

Ten minutes later, they were sitting in the shop that sold the apples. Puck had bought one and had them cut it in half and put it in bowls because he knew that Sarah could never eat a whole one. She and Carlos sat and ate, kicking their feet and chattering excitedly.

Dave and Kurt went out and moved the Navigator closer to the shoe store and waited for the other three to meet them. Puck opened the door and the other four walked through. He followed Kurt.

“You are a ninja wizard shopper. I’m completely convinced now. $125 and she has everything except a winter coat and winter boots. And I’m hoping she can still fit in her coat from last year. And she’s having the time of her life. Carlos is a hoot. I figured you and Dave would like him. He comes over a lot on the weekends and she goes over to his house three days a week. She goes to a different friend’s house the other two days. It’s just a couple of hours so she has kids to play with. They’re aren’t really any in the apartment complex because only two people can live together, and since there’s only one bedroom, they have to be the same sex if one is a child. There are weird rules some places. So, it would only be a single mom and a daughter under 10 or a single dad and a son under 10 that could live in one of the apartments. I never see any kids except the ones visiting other people.”

“Well, he is a character. They get along really well.”

“They do.”

“Hey, Kurt?” Carlos approached them. “Do these work?” He showed Kurt a box with leather boots in them. “They look a lot like the ones I had last year. I though they might be what my mom wants me to get.”

“Let me look.

“Noah, you have to come see all of the amazing shoes.” She grabbed Puck’s hand and pulled him to what she wanted him to see. “Look, there’s a whole section of shoes on clearance. That means extra on sale, right?”

“It does.”

“Can I have these?” She pointed to a box that had a pair of magenta leather suede Mary Janes in it.

He looked at the price. “Sure, if they have your size and they fit right.”

“Yay! They totally match my hoodie.”

Kurt helped Carlos find a pair that had enough room for his feet to grow some, but that weren’t so big he couldn’t wear them. “What do you think of those?”

“I think this pair is just a little too big still.”

Kurt got a pair a half-size smaller and he put them on.

“These are better. Do I still have room to grow?” He pushed his foot towards Kurt.

“Stand up straight so I can tell.” Kurt checked the fit. “These are fine. Put the other one on and walk around and make sure they’re both comfortable.”

Sarah came bounding up. “Look, Kurt. Look! Magenta shoes. Noah says I can get them. Aren’t they beautiful?” She twirled around.

He smiled at her. “They are really quite lovely.”

“All of those really cool socks I got will look awesome with them cause you’ll be able to see the patterns in these shoes.”

“I hadn’t considered that, but you’re right.”

Carlos said, “I like these. Do you like these Sarah?”

“Oh, I do. They kind of look like your other ones. Do they feel good?”

“Yep.”

“Well, then I think we’re set then, right?” Dave asked.

“We are!” Sarah said excitedly. She put her new sneakers back on and put the mary janes back in the box.

Carlos put his boots back in the box as well and they ran to the front to get in line. When they got to the front, Kurt picked up a can of shoe spray and bought it. Carlos paid for his boots and Puck gave Sarah the cash to pay for hers too. When they got outside the store, the kids wanted to look down the row of stores before they left.

They found a bookstore and went inside. They nearly ran to the kids’ section. The three teens stood just far enough back that they could still watch them easily. A few minutes later, Carlos and Sarah brought their finds to show them.

“Can I get this Noah? It’s really cool. It has a ton of puzzles in it.”

Puck looked at it and said, “Sure, squirt. It will give you something quiet to do when Nana wants to close her eyes in the afternoon sometimes.”

“I have $15 left and I picked this. Isn’t it cool?” he showed the book to Kurt and Dave.

“Oh, wow. Noah said you like Legos a lot.”

“I have tons of them at my house. This book shows how to make all sorts of stuff that I don’t know how to make. Me and Sarah will have so much fun with it. She loves Legos as much as me, but her place isn’t big enough to keep a bunch of them there.”

“It looks like we’re ready to go then,” Puck said. “Let’s pay and go to watch _Finding_ _Nemo_ and go eat pizza.”

“Chuck E. Cheese. Chuck E. Cheese,” Sarah chanted.

“Shh, keep it down, squirt.”

“Sorry. I’m just super excited!”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After the movie, they went to Chuck E. Cheese. Sarah was nearly vibrating with excitement on the way.

“This is going to be so much fun!” Sarah said as they crossed the parking lot. Kurt took a picture of Sarah and Noah and Sarah and Carlos next to the mouse statue outside the door before they went inside.  Once they were inside, they ordered their pizza and sat down.

“You know what, squirt?”

“What?”

“I think we need to go back to the Nav and you need to put your shorts and t-shirt back on or you’re going to have hard time crawling through the tunnels.”

“Oh, you’re right.”

Kurt handed Puck his keys. They were back a few minutes later. It didn’t take much longer for their pizza to arrive. Kurt and Dave had gotten their drinks while they were gone. Once they finished eating, Puck went and got $10 in tokens.

“Do you want to climb around and play or play the games first?”

“Climb in the tunnels.”

“Then go for it. We’ll be right by where you climb out.”

Carlos and Sarah took off for the play area. The three guys followed them and watched them. Kurt pulled his phone out of his satchel and took some pictures of them when he could get good ones.

Puck asked Kurt, “What did Carlos’ mom want?”

Kurt stepped closer to Puck and spoke as quietly as he could. “To tell me that she wanted me and Dave to be ourselves and that she wanted Carlos to see that gay people can be happy and normal.”

“Oh. Carlos is gay?”

“She said that she and her husband think so, but she doesn’t think he actually knows the word yet. He talks about finding a prince, not a princess.”

“I never noticed. They just do kid stuff like color and build Lego stuff and watch Disney movies. Wait, how did she know you and Dave were gay?”

“I guess Sarah said something about us being boyfriends. I don’t think she used the word gay either. I’m figuring that she’s been hearing you talk about me and Dave the same way that you talk about Mercedes and Azimio. And she has no idea that a boy liking another boy is wrong. They just finished 2nd grade. There’s not much talk about anything at this age. It was definitely one of the most unusual conversations I can think of ever having. Probably right behind the one when Dave told me that he liked me.” Kurt hip checked Dave and took his hand.

Puck laughed. “I can imagine how much of a shock that must have been.”

“Yeah, but he was really sweet.”

Once Carlos and Sarah came back out, they went to watch the animatronic concert for a little while. Kurt got Puck and Sarah to stand by the costumed Chuck E. Cheese who was walking around and took their picture. He had Puck and Carlos switch places and he took another few pictures.

They went and played in the game area next. Kurt bought $2 in tokens and got Dave to sit with him in the sketch machine and did it twice. They showed Sarah their pictures and she did it twice with Puck and then twice with Carlos. Kurt put all of the pictures in his satchel while they went and played more games. Kurt and Dave played Skeeball with the two tokens they had left. Kurt managed to get a few more good photos of Sarah playing some of the games. Once they ran out of tokens, they hit the store and traded their tickets in for trinkets – candy necklaces, temporary tattoos, and a few Chuck E. Cheese pencils.

Kurt texted Mrs. Garcia to let her know that they were leaving Chuck E. Cheese. She was at the apartment when they arrived.

Carlos saw her and started talking the instant he got out of the car. “We found everything, Mom. Everything. They had the shark shirt and the alligator shirt and even the seat turtle shirt. And I got an orange hoodie and a bright, bright blue one. Oh, and I had $15 left over, and I bought a super cool Lego book.”

“Sounds like a successful trip.”

Sarah answered, “It was so much fun. I picked 8 dresses. Do you want to see?” She turned to Puck, who was helping the other two get the bags out of the back. “Noah, I want to show Silvia my dresses, please.” She turned back. “Oh, I got the most beautiful pair of shoes. You have to see.”

“If she has time, sure.”

“Yes, I do. Of course. You can both show me as long as we’re not bothering your nana.”

“Noah, please go ask Nana.”

“I will, squirt. Give me a minute.” Noah unlocked the door and took Sarah’s bags in with him. He came back out a few minutes later. “It’s fine.”

All of them followed Sarah inside. Puck grabbed a kitchen chair for Mrs. Garcia to sit on in the living room. The three teens sat on the floor and watched as Sarah and Carlos laid out their selections on the couch. Nana Ruth watched them as they took turns showing off their outfits. She clapped for them when they finished.

“That was a might fine shopping trip. You two did good. Excellent choices. They make such fun animal shirts these days. And lovely dresses.”

Sarah had a mega-watt smile. Carlos took a bow, and had a huge smile on his face when he stood back upright. They both showed her their books.

“Very nice indeed. So, was the pizza place as cool is it looks in the commercials?”

“It was even better, Nana. It was so awesome. We got in this photo booth thing and it drew our pictures.”

Kurt pulled the four with Sarah in them out of his bag and gave them to her.

“See look, Nana. We just sat on this bench and it made these for us.”

“Well, isn’t that cool? Be sure to give Carlos the one that’s his so he can take it home with him.”

Sarah gave him one and he handed it to his mom.

“That’s a really nice picture of the two of you. I think I’ll get a frame for that.”

They both grinned.

“The movie theater was so cool. It was huge and the screen was ginormous. It was awesome.”

“Well, it seems that you had a grand birthday party.”

“I really did. Oh, I forgot about his HUGE chocolate and nut and marshmallow covered apple that me and Carlos split at the shopping center. It was SO yummy.”

Nana Ruth smiled. “It sounds like it would be.”

Kurt got up and knelt next to Mrs. Garcia’s chair. He took he wallet out of his satchel and gave it to her. “I put the receipts in here each time. That way they couldn’t get lost. Everything fits and I didn’t see anything wrong with any of it, but just in case, you’ll have the receipts.”

“Thanks. I can’t believe he had money left over. You got some really good deals. And those boots are perfect. He hates snow boots, so I get those waterproof hikers for him so that he can wear them all winter as shoes and be comfortable and not have wet feet.”

“He had a good time. It was fun to watch him. It reminded me of being little and getting to go shopping with my mom.”

She nodded. “He had fun. I can tell. I’m going to start taking them to that $1 theater. I didn’t even know we had such a place.”

“I found it online. It plays old movies, but it’s still fun.”

She nodded. “Carlos, honey, we need to get going. It’s getting late.”

“Alright, Mom. I’ll put my stuff back in the bags.”

Kurt got up and walked over to Sarah. “I have this shoe spray that I’d like to put on your new magenta shoes to help them stay looking nice for longer. It will protect the leather.”

“Okay.”

“You’ll need to not wear them until tomorrow night. It takes 24 hours, meaning one whole day to dry completely.”

“Alright. Here.” She handed him the box. He took them outside and sprayed them and brought them back in.

“Hey, Puck?”

Puck turned around and walked towards the front door.

“These are pretty smelly. Is there a back patio or maybe just put them in your truck overnight and then outside out of the sun tomorrow while they dry? I sprayed them with a waterproof leather spray to keep them looking nice for longer.”

“Yeah. I’ll follow you out and put them in my truck for now. They do smell pretty bad.”

Kurt walked over to Nana Ruth. “It was nice to meet you.”

Dave saw that Kurt was saying goodbye and got up to stand with him.

“It was nice meeting the two of you as well. You boys did a good job. Sarah’s super happy about it.”

“Thank you. We need to get going, but we had a good time with them.”

She smiled. “Drive carefully.”

“We will. Good night.”

“Sarah, we need to get going, but I think we have one thing left to do,” Kurt started to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ and everyone else joined in.

“Thank you! That was great. I had so much fun today. I have the prettiest new clothes and shoes. I love everything.”

“I’m glad. We need to get going.”

“Okay. Good night.”

“‘Night.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

As soon as they were both in the Navigator, Dave leaned over the console and kissed Kurt on the cheek. Kurt turned and they kissed. Dave sat back in his seat and put his seat belt on.

“That was fun.”

Kurt agreed. “It was. They were both so enthusiastic about the whole trip. And Mrs. Garcia’s attitude was just amazing. I’ve never met any adult that was supportive like that. I know I haven’t met that many adults personally like that, but it was still really cool.”

“It was. I’ve obviously not met many supportive adults either. Our dads, Judy, and Carole, I think.”

“I think Carole is fine. Just not Finn.”

“Hopefully, he’ll come around in time,” Dave said.

“We can hope. I’m excited about tomorrow. The zoo looked really cool on the website.”

“I think it will be.”

“I know I smarted off to Finn nearly a month ago about not being willing to change to fit his view of what a guy should be, but do I embarrass you?”

“Embarrass me?”

“Yeah. I know I get a little overexcited about stuff sometimes and I know I don’t dress very masculine. Do I embarrass you? Should I be trying harder to be more masculine?”

“How about I give you the short answer of no for now and when we get to the motel in a little bit, we can talk about it. It seems like a pretty heavy topic to discuss while you’re driving in the dark in an unfamiliar area.”

“You’re right.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When they got to the motel, Dave got the key to the room and came back to the Navigator. Kurt grabbed their bag out of the back and followed Dave into the room. He put it on the dresser and Dave closed the door and locked it.

“How about a shower?” Dave asked.

Kurt nodded. He undressed, grabbed their toiletries bag, and went into the bathroom. Dave was close behind. While Kurt got out what they needed, Dave turned the shower on to warm the water up, and then stepped in. Kurt handed him their shower supplies and got in.

Kurt washed Dave’s hair, and then Dave washed his. It had become their nightly routine and something they both looked forward to every day. When they got out Dave put Kurt’s moisturizer on him. They got in bed and Dave turned the light off.

“Can I hold you?”

Kurt scooted closer and Dave wrapped his arm around him and Kurt sprawled out along Dave’s side wrapping his leg over Dave’s and running his fingers along Dave’s chest. Dave wiggled a little from being slightly tickled.

“Should I stop?”

“Never.” He tipped his head down a bit. “Look up.”

Kurt tipped his head up to find Dave’s lip and kissed him. “I love you.”

“My heart still sort of skips when you say that. I still feel like this is a dream sometimes. I love you too.” He kissed Kurt’s forehead. “On the way here, you asked me if I am embarrassed by you.”

“Mmm hmm.”

“I’m not sure what made you ask that, but no, I’m not. Not at all. I think you are gorgeous and sexy. And if you wanted to start dressing like me, you’d still be gorgeous and sexy. And I’d love you the same. However you want to dress is fine with me. I’m not sure where this self-doubt is coming from though.”

“I guess the back-to-school shopping got me thinking about school starting again at the end of the month. And of course the talk I had with my dad a couple of weeks ago. I still need to do my back-to-school shopping. I don’t want the trouble we had at the beginning of last year to start up again”

“I don’t think it will. Those guys won’t be back. The rest of the football team got over it for the most part and the incoming freshmen won’t have ever known that it went on. We’ll be upperclassmen and we can continue to change things. You’re still going to be on the team, right?”

“Yeah. Maybe the new coach can convince the school to put some doors on the showers. That would help too.”

“We can ask about that. Anyway, I’m not embarrassed at all. I just wanted to make sure that it wasn’t something I had done or said to give you that impression.”

“Nope. Not at all. Just my insecurities leaking out sometimes.”

Dave rolled them a bit so they were both on their sides. Kurt slipped his arm under Dave’s neck and Dave drew him closer.

“I thought you were gorgeous the day I first saw you. My opinion has only gotten stronger the more I’ve gotten to know you. You have nothing to be worried about when it comes to me liking the way you dress.” Dave ran his hand down Kurt’s back, his butt, and his thigh. “Or liking the way you don’t dress.” He kissed him, licking Kurt’s lip and pressed in, causing Kurt to moan and open his mouth kissing him back passionately.

When they broke for air, Dave kissed along his jaw and said, “You are the sexiest guy anywhere.”

“You’re crazy.” He lifted his chin a little so Dave could kiss his neck.

“Crazy about you.” He kissed down Kurt’s neck.

“Mmm. That feels good.”

Dave continued to kiss his neck, working his way back up to Kurt’s lips.

“I’m crazy about you too, you know.”

“I do know.” Dave restarted the passionate kissing.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Are you sure this looks okay? I feel really weird going out in public wearing shorts.” Kurt was looking at himself in the tall mirror attached to the dresser in the hotel room.

“Well, I happen to love the view of your sexy legs, but yes, you look fine for a public outing. I’m wearing basketball shorts and a tank top. It’s 90 degrees outside. Wear the shorts and the t-shirt you have on. We’re not walking the runway. We’re going to look at cute animals.”

He gave himself one last look. “I guess you’re right.” He picked up the outfit he had considered changing into and folded it back up and put it in the duffle. “I think I’m going to get a haircut and change my hairstyle.”

“Sure. Are you ready? The zoo opens in an hour and we still need to go eat.”

“I’ll go double-check the bathroom and that’s it.” He stopped in front of Dave and wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck. “Oh, and the kisses. I can’t forget the kisses.”

Between kisses, Dave said, “Definitely not.” He ran his hands down Kurt’s back until he stopped with them on Kurt’s butt.

Kurt reached back and slid Dave’s hands up to his waist. “None of that or we’ll have to skip breakfast in order to get there when it opens.”

“Definitely worth missing breakfast,” Dave teased.

Kurt slipped out of his hold and looked in the bathroom and didn’t find anything. He stopped in front of Dave and gave him a quick kiss. “Let’s go.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They walked to the North America area quickly and then slowed down to stop and looked at each group of animals. They saw lynx from Canada, wolves from Mexico, bison, moose, otters, pumas, and wolverines in the first area they visited. From there they walked to the next section of North American animals, where the artic foxes, brown bears and polar bears were. They stood along the outdoor glass area and watch the polar bears for quite a while.

“They seem really happy. I’ve always wondered whether animals in zoos would be unhappy with their lives, but the animals here seem to be fine. I love watching the polar bears splash. They seem to think that barrel toy is a lot of fun.” Kurt leaned back against Dave just slightly.

Dave put his hand on Kurt’s waist. “It seems kind of like having a dog. I know that’s over-simplifying it. But dogs are happy when they have room to run around and explore and have something to do. And obviously the zoo feeds them and they have quite a good-sized habitat. They look happy to me too.”

“Let’s go to the underwater viewing area.”

Dave grabbed Kurt’s hand and they went inside. They stood along the back since they were taller than most everyone else and they could still see. Kurt stepped in front of Dave, but just slightly off-center so that Dave could still see easily. He stepped back and leaned against Dave. Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt and propped his chin up on Kurt’s shoulder.

He spoke quietly in his ear. “You’ve gotten so tall that you make the perfect chin propper-upper now.”

Kurt laughed quietly.

After they watched for a while, they headed back outside into the African area. They saw the camels as they entered the area. Farther down, they stood along the center edge of the habitat and watched lions, zebras, ostriches, gazelles, and wildebeests. Down a little farther, they stopped to watch the giraffes.

Dave said, “I’ve always thought they were cool looking in pictures, but they are way cool in person. Look how tall they are.”

“They are really cool.”

As they looped around, they saw the monkeys and cheetahs.

“They have a lot of space to run around in. It’s a really nice layout for all of them,” Dave said.

They looked at the African animals again as they left the area. They walked back through part of the North American area that they didn’t visit on their way in and saw the birds in the aviary and the bald eagles. The path led them back out to the lake area in the center of the zoo.

They took a right and headed into the Asian area. They saw tigers, rhinos, elephants, sloths, and the birds in the aviary. They stopped along the area where the red pandas were supposed to be.

Kurt said, “I don’t see any animals.” He scanned the area again. “Oh, over there. One of them is walking along that fallen tree. Oh, my God. They’re adorable. They don’t look a thing like pandas. They look like a combination of a fox, a fluffy teddy bear, and a raccoon. They have long flully striped tales.” He pointed. “It’s under the edge now.”

“It’s pushing the lid up on something. Oh, it has snacks in there.”

“There’s another up on in that tree.” Kurt pointed.

“The other one moved up this tree. We can see it a lot better now.”

Kurt managed to get a picture of it. They continued to explore the area for a while before they moved on and went through the tunnel and went in the building to see the fish. They went inside and moved to the back and leaned against the wall. After a couple of minutes, Kurt slid in front of Dave again and leaned against him. Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt again. He continued to watch the fish, but the dark cover of the room emboldened him to kiss the side of Kurt’s neck. Kurt tilted his head a bit to give Dave better access and he ran his hands along Dave’s forearms.

“They should set an HD video camera up in here, clean the viewing window perfectly clean, and then record the tank over night and sell the videos. They could record natural underwater sounds and dub the video. I’d totally buy one and figure out how to project it on the big wall behind the futon. Then, I could lie in bed at night and watch it. It would be so relaxing.”

“You’re right. It really would be.”

“It reminds me of that one room in the Newport Aquarium that I liked so much.”

“Mmm hmm.”

“Are you ready to go see the manatees?”

“Sure.” Dave gave him a little squeeze and another kiss on the neck before he let him go. He took his hand and they went to the next building.

Once they came out, they decided to go through the Australia section and then the Congo.

When they came out of the Congo section, Dave asked, “Do you want to ride the carousel? I know we’re kind of old for it, but I’ve never ridden one.”

“Me neither. Let’s go get in line.”

Once they were on, they took pictures of each other. They rode around, both of them enjoying the mesmerizing combination of the whimsical animals, the movement, and the music. Both of them got off smiling.

“Okay, that was really cool. I don’t know why, but it was,” Dave said.

“It was. I agree. There’s not much left as far as animals. After we look at the snakes and stuff, let’s go back and look at the manatees and fish again.”

“Sounds good to me.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave pulled out of the parking lot and got back on the highway heading towards Lima.

Kurt said, “One day, when we’re finally wherever we’re going to live, I want to live near a cool zoo and get a membership so we can go whenever we want. Or if there’s no zoo, a big aquarium like the one in Newport.”

“Done.”

Kurt reached out and put his hand on Dave’s thigh. “What was your favorite part?”

“That’ a hard question. I liked all of it. Maybe we can convince my dad to let us skip school one day and go to the zoo in Cincinnati the next time. We could go in late September or early October when it won’t be so hot, and if we go on a weekday it won’t be crowded and we can stand and watch whatever we want for however long we want.”

“That sounds fun.”

“Have you picked the date to go shopping with Quinn yet?”

“She wants to go in two weeks. I think we’ll leave from Findlay after ballet.”

“That works. We could also go on a weekday that week, if you took the day off. My tutoring job ends the 13th.”

“We could, but I’d lose a whole day’s pay and I only have three weeks of being able to work full time.”

“That’s true. Saturday is fine with me. I was just thinking it would be less crowded.”

“I know. We’ll just have to live with the crowds. Tomorrow evening, we have Judy’s closet to tackle.”

“Have you finished the design? I saw you working on it the other day.”

“It’s done and she approved it already. We just need to go buy the shelving. She and Quinn were planning to empty it out this weekend and I showed Quinn how to patch the screw holes when we did her closet. So, hopefully they’ve emptied it out and painted it already and we can do it tomorrow evening.”

“Sounds good. I know Mercedes wants you to do hers too.”

“Yeah, but she won’t be back until the weekend before school starts, like Tina. I’m not sure that she’s completely managed to persuade her mom yet. She wants the after pictures from Judy’s closet to help her win her mom over.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday when Kurt got off, he met Dave and Quinn at Lowe’s. Quinn paid for the supplies they needed. Kurt and Dave loaded them into Dave’s truck.

As they walked into the house, Dave let Kurt go to Judy’s room first.

He stepped into the room to find that the room had been painted a pale apple green that looked fantastic with Judy’s antique floral quilt. “It’s beautiful. It looks so different.”

“I think she’s really going to like it,” Quinn said.

Kurt asked, “So, you didn’t go to work today?”

“No, I asked for the day off last week so we could surprise Judy.”

“She’s going to love it. Let’s get the closet done before she gets here.”

The three of them worked together to get the shelving installed and Judy’s clothing moved to the closet. She had asked for a different configuration from Quinn’s to accommodate for her numerous long dresses and skirts. Just before Judy got home, they finally had everything in the closet.

When Judy came in, the three of them went to greet her.

“Close your eyes,” Quinn said when they got to the bedroom door. Quinn opened it, and stepped inside and to the left. “Open your eyes.”

“Oh, wow! Quinnie! How did you do this? It’s gorgeous. I love it, sweetheart. Thank you!”

“Well, I had help. There’s no way I could have moved all of the furniture out of the way and back in here by myself. Dave helped me.”

“Thank you, Dave. I really do love it. I had made comments, probably a lot, about how much I liked the way Quinn’s room looked after it was painted. I can’t believe you did all this in one day.”

“Well, the pictures are in my room right now. We can rehang them tomorrow. And everything is just a little bit away from the wall. We can move it the last little bit tomorrow. But I wanted to surprise you.”

“Well, you succeeded. It’s perfect. Why don’t you three go order dinner for all five of us and I’ll change?”

“Chinese?” Quinn asked.

“That’s fine, sweetheart.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Judy rearranged a few things in her closet and looked around again. She changed and went back out to the living room.

“I still can’t believe you got all of that done in one day. It’s perfect. I love the color. It looks great with the quilt. And I love green.”

A few minutes later, Paul pulled up in the driveway. Judy opened the door and him in. She leaned up and gave him a quick peck.

“Come see. It’s my turn for a room redec reveal.”

Paul followed her. “You painted.”

“I didn’t. Quinn and Dave did. They surprised me.” She opened her closet.

“Oh, wow. That’s a complete change. I think this has Kurt’s design touch all over it.”

Judy laughed. “It definitely does. I explained what I wanted and he designed it. He and Dave installed it this afternoon, and I’m imagining that Kurt and Quinn moved my stuff and put it away.”

Paul stepped out and turned toward the living room. “You all did a great job. It looks like it should be in a magazine too.”

The doorbell rang.

“Oh, let me get that. The kids worked so hard on everything, I had them order Chinese so we could eat without making a big mess.” Judy answered the door. Dave got up and grabbed a couple of the bags and took them to the dining table. Judy brought the rest over. “I’m feeling particularly lazy and we’re just going to eat out of the containers. No dishes.”

Quinn brought in some silverware and napkins from the kitchen.

“Thanks for dinner,” Kurt said.

“You’re welcome, honey. My closet is perfect. Thank you.”

Kurt smiled and nodded. “I’m glad you like it.”

Paul and Judy had plans to go out to a movie after dinner and they left not too long after everyone had finished eating.

“So, back home with us, Quinn? We can work on our dance or we can just lounge around and be lazy.”

“I’ll bring my dance stuff, but lazy is sounding much more appealing right now. My arms are tired.”

“Mine too,” Dave said.

“Mine three,” Kurt said. “Those tires are heavy, especially after you put about 6 of them on in a row.”

“Okay, so we skip the dancing and we go lie around in your den and watch movies. Maybe I can convince Kurt to do my nails.”

“Bring the polish you want to use. And pajamas. That way if you get too tired to drive, you can just sleep in the guest room.”

“Sure. I’ll go get everything.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Nearly two weeks later, Kurt and Dave picked Quinn up to go to Findlay. Dave opted stay and watch rather than go skate so that they could head out to the outlet center more quickly. All three of them had gone through their closets the previous week and pulled out anything they didn’t think they would wear anymore or in Kurt’s case no longer fit.

They stopped by the resale shop first. They signed in and left their items to be considered. While they waited, they looked through the racks. Kurt found a pair of black jeans to try. Quinn found some leggings and a couple of pretty cardigans. Kurt kept the jeans with him after he had tried them on. Quinn chose to keep the black sweater and a couple of the leggings. She found some camisole tanks she decided to purchase as well. Once they had completed their transactions, they went to the outlet center.

Quinn said, “Let’s get something to eat before we start traipsing through all those stores.”

“Where to, my lovely princess Quinn?” Kurt asked with his best impression of a Disney prince.

She laughed at him and looked at her phone. “Well, my royal vizier says there’s a Panera not far from here. How about that?”

“I’ve never been to one, but if you like it, I’m sure it’s great,” he said in with a sing-song cheery lilt to his voice.

“You’re in a mood today,” she teased.

“Shall I be less agreeable?”

She rolled her eyes. “Definitely not.” She gave him directions to the restaurant.

They all stood and studied the menu board for a while after they got inside. Dave finally got in line and the other two followed him. They placed their orders, got their drinks, and sat down to wait for their food to be ready. They swapped bites and tried each other’s food and enjoyed themselves.

“Alright, so clothes?” Quinn asked.

“Clothes,” Kurt answered resolutely.   They parked in a spot that was convenient to most of the places they wanted to go to.

Quinn picked out about 10 dresses to try on in the first store they went in.

“I’ve decided that I’m going to go with dresses that can be worn year round. For the winter, I want to get another pair ankle boots. I’m going to pair the dresses with cardigans when it’s cold out.”

“Don’t you want anymore leggings, like to wear under them? Won’t you get cold?”

“No colder than I was wearing my Cheerios uniform every day. The leggings are to wear around the house with hoodies. These dresses are much longer than the cheer skirts.”

“That’s true.”

“Do you have a lot to wear with a red cardigan?”

“I will if I choose some of these dresses.” She headed into the first of many dressing rooms.

Kurt spent the majority of his dressing room time in Express, Banana Republic, and J. Crew, but he did pick out a pair of sturdy jeans that fit well for hiking in the Levi’s store.

They looked around the Michael Kors store before heading into Fossil.

“I need one of these purses. I just have to figure out which one,” Quinn said.

“Maybe you should pick the boots you want to get first and then come back and look.”

“Good idea.”

They left and went to several shoe stores. Quinn tried on numerous pairs of boots.

“I’ve found them. These are the ones.” She walked up to Kurt and Dave and showed off a pair of warm medium brown lace-up ankle boots. “I’m going back to the last store and getting that pair that was black and brown.”

“The ones that sort of look like black mary janes with heels and brown open-sided spats?”

“Those are the ones.” She went to get in line.

Kurt and Dave headed back to the previous store. This time Kurt started looking around for himself instead of Quinn. He picked up a pair of combat styled boots with flat square silver studs. He tried them on and walked to where Dave had sat down.

“I’m getting these.”

“Nice. I like them.”

“Ooh, I like those, Kurt. Are you getting them?”

“Definitely. Did you find the pair you had on?”

“I did. Let’s get these and go back to the Fossil store. I think I know just the bag.”

After they paid for the boots, Dave took Quinn’s bag. “We’ll go put these in the back and meet you down there in a minute.

“Sure.”

Kurt hit the unlock on his key fob and instead of opening the back, Dave opened the back seat and winked at Kurt. He climbed in and put Quinn’s bags over the back seat. Kurt got in and pulled the door shut and put his bag over the seat as well. As soon as Kurt’s door was closed, Dave leaned toward him and kissed him.

“Alright, let’s go with Quinn.”

“One more.” Kurt leaned into Dave and kissed him again. “Okay.”

They got back out and Quinn had her choices narrowed down to three. Kurt and Dave stood on either side of her.

“Which one?”

“Depends on what you want it for,” Kurt said.

“Well, I’m obviously looking for quality or I wouldn’t spend this much on a purse. I have a couple of really small wristlet wallets at home and a couple of purses that I had back in middle school.”

“The hobo style is sort of a mix between a messenger bag and a purse because it has a shorter handle that you can use to carry it as a shoulder bag, but it also has the long crossbody strap that comes with it. I could see you using a bag like that all the way through college. You could fit one of those tiny Netbooks in it or an iPad in it. You could fit a small lunch in it. It could hold a paperback book. It’s sort of like a daypack in function, but it’s a nice handbag, rather than a sporty slingpack. And it’s a lot more feminine looking than a traditional messenger bag. I also like that side zip pocket for easy phone access since designers still think that women’s clothes shouldn’t have pockets or if they do, they’re not large enough for phones.”

“Sold,” Quinn teased. “The hobo bag wins.” Quinn bought the bag, took the tags off, and put it on crossbody style.

Kurt said, “Last stop, Wilson’s.”

When they got there, Kurt looked around for a while. It was a tight squeeze through most of the store because the racks were so close together, which gave Dave the perfect opportunity to hold Kurt’s hand.

“What are you looking for?”

“I want a black leather jacket.”

Dave continued to follow him close enough to stay in contact with him. “You have a black leather jacket.”

“I do, but it doesn’t fit anymore. I tried it on this past week.”

Quinn hear what he said. “Can I buy it from you if it fits me?”

“Sure. I didn’t bring it to sell today because I didn’t think I’d get a good price for it at that shop since they don’t really sell that type of thing there.” He pulled a jacket off the rack and tried it on. He walked around the rack to the other side where there was a mirror. “What do you two think of this one?”

“I’m not the best person to ask,” Dave said. “I think you look hot in everything.”

Quinn laughed at him. “Are you going for a particular style?”

“I’m actually trying to find something that can be both dressed up and down. Something that would work for a ‘bad boy’ look, but I could also wear with a scarf and leather gloves and still look nice.”

A store clerk overheard him. “I have another jacket that fits that description. Let me grab it for you.”

“Thanks.”

He brought it over and Kurt put it on. “They’re pretty similar.”

“They are, but sometimes one jacket just feels right once it’s on.”

Kurt nodded. He looked in the mirror. He had Dave take a picture of him in both of them, front and back. He looked at the photos and in the mirror again. He also checked the price tags. They were within $15 of each other, so that didn’t knock either one of them out of the running. He looked them both over again and made his choice and tried them both on again. “This one just feels better, like you said.”

The clerk took the other one and put it back and returned. “We have a special right now. Purchasing this jacket allows you the choice of half off any of the small leather purses or wallets up at the counter.”

The three of them followed the clerk to the desk. “Can I interest you in can of leather spray?”

“No thanks. I have some. So, you said half off any of these items?”

“Yes, up to three.”

“Alright. I’ll take this one and this one.” He chose an almost coffin shaped black leather purse that zipped on three sides that had a stainless chain strap and a black leather bag with a faux zebra fur magnetic flap and an adjustable leather crossbody strap. He continued to look through the choices. “Would your mom like any of these? I know her birthday is in September some time because of what she said about mine.”

“Umm.” Quinn looked through them. “She actually has a pair of shoes that this one would look perfect with for going out.”

“I’ll take that one too.”

The clerk rang everything up. He slipped a bag over the top of the jacket so it could stay flat and put the small purses in a shopping bag. Kurt paid. “Is there any place else you want to go?” he asked as they exited.

“I did think of something,” Dave said. “I could use some new running shoes. If we’re going to run laps, I’m going to need some new ones.”

“That’s true. What if the new coach makes me run laps too? I might quit if I have to run laps every day. But I could use some new athletic shoes too. Chucks don’t really cut it for work outs.”

Quinn said, “I saw an Asics store.”

“That will work,” Dave said.

An hour later, they were well on their way back to Lima and they pulled into a consignment shop.

“You’ll like it here, Quinn. They usually have some really neat dresses. Nothing you can count on finding, but sometimes they have really cool stuff.”

The three of them went inside and looked around. They left with a top hat and a couple of unusual blazers for Kurt, a vintage dress for Quinn, and some cowboy boots that fit Dave perfectly.

Quinn climbed into the backseat and closed her door. She put her bag in the seat next to her. “That is a cool place. I have no idea how it stays in business, though, with such low prices.”

“I think whoever owns it has owned it since the building was built. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to sell stuff so cheap. I’ve gotten lots of unusual stuff in there.”

Quinn’s phone pinged. “Mom wants to know when we’ll be home. They’re ordering pizza.”

“Tell her 45 minutes.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They pulled into Quinn’s driveway 40 minutes later. They carried all of the bags in the house.

“Oh, my,” Judy said as they came in burdened down with all of the bags. “Did you leave anything for anyone else?” she teased. “The pizzas will be here in about 15 minutes. Let’s see what you got.”

“I’ll go first,” Dave said. “All I got were new running shoes since mine are pretty shot.” He took the box out of the bag and opened the lid.

“Nice,” Paul said.

Dave nodded and closed the box and put it back in the bag and put it near the front door.

“I have more things,” Kurt said. “But in all fairness, I’ve grown five inches since a year ago.” He pulled out the jeans and pants that he had gotten and stacked them up on the coffee table. “I also bought some whimsical things at a consignment shop.” He showed them the jackets and top hat. “And I bought a new leather jacket, some boots, and running shoes for football as well.” He pulled the leather jacket out and showed them the other items, and then put them back away. “You forgot something you bought, Dave.” Kurt pushed a sack toward him.

“Oh, yeah. At that consignment place, I bought these cowboy boots for $10. And they fit perfectly. They’re mostly just for fun. Kurt and I are going to go back to that line dancing place sometime.”

“I’m going to go lay mine out on my bed so you can see them more easily.”

Kurt and Dave put all of their bags back in the Navigator while Quinn laid her stuff out. When they went back inside, Judy had followed Quinn to her room.

“Did you not need anything else, Dave?”

“No. My stuff from last year still fits. Kurt’s the one that’s grown.”

The doorbell rang. Paul opened the door and paid for the pizzas, handing them off to Dave, who put them on the table and unstacked them. A few minutes later, Quinn and Judy came out of Quinn’s room and sat down with everyone else.

“I love the stuff Quinn got. The short-sleeved and long-sleeved cardigans and the dresses can mix and match and that purse is beautiful. That will last you a lifetime if you take care of it. And both of the pairs of ankle boots are nice. That one pair is really unique.”

Quinn smiled at her mother’s praise. “Lunch seems like forever ago.” She put two slices of pizza on her plate. “We went to Panera and it was so good, but that was like 8 hours ago.”

Kurt’s face lit up when he remembered. “We have the information for the mini-recital for ballet.”

Paul and Judy pulled their phones out to put the details in. They both confirmed they would attend. Kurt sent Burt a text with the details before he went back to eating.


	19. Chapter 19

The Friday after their back-to-school shopping, Mercedes and Tina returned to Lima. Kurt had to work during the day, but the two of them plus Dave, emptied Mercedes’ closet out. They took all of her clothes to her brother’s empty room so she could try them all on and decide what to keep while Dave prepped the walls to be painted the next morning.

When Kurt got off, he went over and took all of the measurements carefully. Mercedes gave him the money to get the shelving and supplies they needed.   He and Dave went to Lowe’s and picked them up. Afterwards, they picked Artie up on the way to Sam’s Club where they grabbed several pizzas and a few other things and met everyone back at the Karofsky’s. Quinn and Puck arrived a few minutes after Kurt, Dave, and Artie got there.

Quinn went into the kitchen to see if she could help. She helped get two of the pizzas into the oven, while Dave got the veggie tray set out and Kurt washed the fruit and started to cut it up. She joined Kurt with the fruit prep once the pizzas were in the oven. Everyone else was in the den choosing a movie to watch later.

Once the first two pizzas were ready. Quinn took them outside and put them on the patio table and put two more in. Azimio had brought drinks already iced down in a cooler and he carried it around back. Puck helped Artie to get out onto the patio. Once everything was out, everyone started eating. Quinn grabbed the second round of pizzas when her phone alarm went off and brought them out as well.

After they ate, Dave pulled out a croquet set that he and Kurt had picked up at a yard sale. Dave had set up the badminton set they got earlier that afternoon. Puck helped Artie into the hammock and held it still for Tina to get in. They two of them just lay and talk while the others divided up to play games.

Right before it got too dark to see to play anything, they put everything away and headed inside to watch the movie. They had chosen a horror flick, which Kurt disliked, so he went into the kitchen to make a cake. Quinn obviously wasn’t a fan either because she ended up in the kitchen about five minutes later and sat at the island and watched Kurt make the cake. She didn’t disturb him. She just observed.

While it was baking, they went upstairs and played Battleship and talked. When the timer went off, they went back downstairs. Kurt showed her how to make the glaze and after the cake had cooled enough, he explained to her how to drizzle it on and let her do it.

Instead of going back upstairs, they went into the studio. Kurt closed the door behind them, so they wouldn’t bother everyone else. He sat down at the piano and pulled the sheet music out of his binder that they had been working on and started to play it. They alternated verses with Kurt taking the high harmony on the chorus. Puck opened the door quietly and closed it back. He leaned against the wall and listened.   He left again before they finished.

They went back into the kitchen and sliced the cake into 10 slices. Kurt put two of them in a container for Paul and Judy. He showed Quinn how to tip the remaining pieces on their sides in a circle like fallen dominoes to make it look like all of the pieces of the cake were there. She moved the cake out onto the dining room table and put napkins on the table instead of plates. It wasn’t long before the slices disappeared like a hoard of locusts had been in the dining room.

Azimio offered to take Artie home so that Kurt wouldn’t have to. Tina and Quinn went to Mercedes’ house to spend the night. Puck stayed in the guest room since he didn’t spend the weekends at his mom’s place unless he had no other choices available to him.

After everyone left, Puck helped Kurt and Dave clean the kitchen up. He and Dave played COD while Kurt worked on tailoring one of the jackets he had gotten at the vintage shop the previous weekend.

After a couple of hours, Dave went to check on Kurt and found him asleep on the bed in the spare room where he did the sewing. Dave woke him up gently and got him to go back to their room to go to bed. He managed to get Kurt into the shower and they were in bed soon after.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Saturday morning at breakfast, the three teens sat down to eat with Paul.

Paul asked, “So, did you get that time conflict worked out with the new football coach?”

Kurt answered, “I emailed and got a response that we can arrive late the first day since the recital is something I had known about all summer and we just found out about the football mini camp. So, we’ll head to the school as soon as the recital is over.”

“That’s good. What about Burt? Is he coming?”

“I’m not sure. I sent him the date and information the same time I sent it to you and Judy. He didn’t say anything one way or the other this week at work. At least I have the football schedule already. I’ll be able to fit my work hours in. I have to figure out how to fit Puck’s in as well. I don’t mind playing, but it’s tough to juggle with work. I’m going to see what the new coach’s take might be on me missing one day of practice a week since I’m not needed to run the offensive plays. Maybe it will work, maybe it won’t. I’ll just have to wait and see. I used the money I earned this summer to pay my full car insurance policy for the whole year. It saved me $5 a month, so $60 for the year and now I can work fewer hours during the school year if I need to and still cover my expenses.”

Paul just nodded.

“I’m working all day Monday and Tuesday since they’re the last two days I can work all day for quite a while.”

Puck spoke up. “I appreciate you taking my hours on Monday, so I can take Sarah to that museum – COSI on Monday. Her school and all the rest in that area start on Monday. Nana’s calling her out so we can go there when it’s not crowded. She’ll learn more there in one day that she will the first day of school. And it’s supposed to be super cool.”

“If you think people our age would like it, we could take my Navigator and Mercedes’ car and 12 of us could go as long as we put three skinny people in Mercedes’ back seat. Tina, Artie, and Quinn would fit easily.”

“I’ll let you know after I go. Is it okay if I go ahead and make my cupcakes after we finish?”

“Yeah, sure. Dave and I made an ice cream cake the other day. It’s in the freezer in the garage. The kitchen’s all yours. We did it ahead of time since we were having people over last night and Quinn and I have dance this morning.”

“I’m not usually here on Saturdays. I forgot about the dance thing. I’ll clean everything up when I’m done. Thanks for letting me stay here last night.”

Paul responded, “Any time, Puck. You know you’re always welcome.”

Puck said, “Kurt, I heard you and Quinn singing last night. It sounded great, but that song barely has any keyboard in it. It’s mostly guitar accompaniment. Would it be okay if I played it when you guys sing it?”

“Sure. She’s not reauditioning, but sort of. She missed most of Glee last year and her voice is so pretty. I wanted her to get to show off a little as soon as we start. Rachel has to share the limelight more this year. Even if she is our best bet for a female lead on a ballad at a competition, that doesn’t mean she needs to hog the rehearsals by singing solos every time. Everyone deserves a fair chance to shine when we’re not actually practicing pieces for a competition.”

“I agree. Quinn’s voice sounded great on that song. And you sound good with everybody. You have your own sound when you sing by yourself. No one would mistake that it’s you. But when you sing with someone, you can just blend and sound like a single voice with whoever it is. It’s actually really cool.”

“Thanks. Dave and I need to get going to pick Quinn up for class. We’ll swing by and pick the ice cream cake up when we get back into town.”

“I could just take it with me, if it’s already packed up.”

“It is. Come with me and I’ll show you.”

While they were gone, Dave grabbed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. He followed Kurt upstairs when he came back. Puck sat back down at the table.

“Look, Puck. I know that what’s going on at your house isn’t right, but I know that your Medicaid and free lunch stuff depends on you staying with your mom. I have an idea for you to consider. With her addiction worsening, I’d like you to consider bringing everything you value over here and putting it in the guest room. Don’t clear out everything and tip her off so she calls the police or something. But bring anything that’s yours that you care about in case she just loses it sometime and starts trashing everything. I don’t want to think that she’ll start doing drugs, but that oftentimes happens when alcohol isn’t enough anymore. And drug addiction does crazy things to people. Things like your guitar, TV, gaming system – those all have monetary value. She could take those and hock them.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ll think about it. I already leave my guitar in the studio here. I’m couch surfing more and I’m not sure how much more of it I can take. I need to make good grades. I have to work. Since they went to that debit card system with the food stamps, I can’t get any food for dinner to have in the house. I think she may be trading people groceries for alcohol now because she used to at least have food in the house, but now it’s bare most of the time.”

“It’s a mess. I wish I knew a way to fix it easily.”

“Yeah, you and me both. I asked her to sign me and Sarah over to Nana, but she would only agree to one of us and I chose for Sarah to go. She wouldn’t let us both go because then she’d lose her Section 8 housing allowance and her food stamps.”

“It’s not fair to you, but you made the right choice. Sarah’s just a little kid. She would be torn apart by your mom’s 48-hour drunken sprees every weekend. At least you can drive and have a way to get out of the house.”

“That’s why I chose Sarah to go. She can’t defend herself. I can. If I had my way, I’d go live in Columbus with them, but I can’t go until I’m 18. Since things have gotten worse, I’ve thought about just skipping out on my 18th birthday and finishing up school in Columbus. We’ll see.”

“I have to go run some errands. Have fun making your cupcakes.”

Puck nodded.

“I like the lack of mohawk. It looks good.”

Puck rolled his eyes. “We’ll see. I’m fighting the urge to shave the sides. My mohawk was part of the Puckzilla package. I feel weird without it. I walk by mirror or windows and my reflection doesn’t look right. It’s super weird.”

“Well, I think it looks nice and professional. I think as much as prejudices are wrong, that if you applied for a job with your current hairstyle, you’d be more likely to get it.”

“Yeah, ‘cause old fuddy-duddies do the hiring.” He laughed.

Paul teased him. “Are you calling me old?”

“Not at all.”

“I meant what I said. Your mom’s probably sleeping it off right now. None of the New Directions will die without a cupcake. Why don’t you go bring your stuff over and put it up in the guest room? Just leave clothes that don’t fit or you don’t need in your closet. I just know that you’re working hard to save up to get a place for you and Sarah and if your mom destroys a bunch of the stuff you use, that will set you back financially.”

Puck put his elbows on the table and then put his head in his hands. “I know. I’ll go over there and bring back what matters.”

“Don’t bring anything she can rightfully claim as hers. So, if she bought you a TV, don’t bring it. But if you paid for it yourself, grab it. I don’t want her to send the cops out after you.”

“The last stuff she bought me was when I started middle school. That was when my dad left for good. He knocked my ma up and didn’t want my sister. He was in and out of the house for a few years. Then when she was three, he just left. My ma bought me some stuff that summer before he left, but after that, she told me I was on my own because she couldn’t afford two kids by herself and I was big enough to make money on my own. I learned to work a lawn mower and mowed grass and did yard work. During middle school, I was one of the early bloomers. I’ve been nearly this tall since I finished the 8th grade. I’ve put on more muscle since then, but at 14, I could pass for 16 and I lied. I started up my pool business. I had already started sleeping around earlier that year. And when the first good-looking client propositioned me, I went with it. Word got around and those two summers, I made decent money. I bought clothes and shoes and my guitar. Last summer, I saved up and bought my truck. Anyway, pretty much everything in my room except the furniture and the sheets and curtains I bought for myself.” He stood up and ran his right hand through his hair. “I don’t know if I can leave the sides. Every time I look in the mirror, I see him.”

Paul nodded. “There are some boxes and tape in the garage if you want them. Or if you think it would be easier, you can grab a couple of those extra large yard waste bags and use them to bring the stuff back. Once you empty them, we can still use the bags later.

“Thanks. I better get going. The longer I wait, the more likely she’ll wake up.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Puck pulled up and parked. He took the box he assembled and the yard waste bag he grabbed in. He found his mom sound asleep in her room, which would make things easier. He pulled her bedroom door shut.

He went into his room. He shut the door behind him and looked around. The closet was on the wall the door opened back on. The wall he was facing had the window. In the far right front corner was a twin-sized bed, which was positioned against the wall. He had a half-height, 3-drawer dresser on the wall next to the window, so he could sit on the end of the bed and play video games and he could watch movies leaned against the wall the head of his bed was up against. There was nothing else in his room, not that much else would have fit in the 7x10 room.

When his mother had signed custody over to his nana, they had to move out of the three-bedroom place they had into this place with just two very tiny bedrooms. Not that they had much, but when they moved, Puck got rid of all of the stuff he had from when he was a kid.

He opened the closet and put all of the clothes that still fit in the bag. He picked up the few paperback books he owned that were stacked on the floor under his window next to the dresser and put them in the box. He put the few video games and movies he owned in it as well. He grabbed one of the t-shirts with holes in it and wrapped his good black dress shoes for Glee in it and put them in the box, along with his other shoes. He put his Xbox in carefully, using the shoes to brace it in place. He opened the dresser and grabbed the socks and underwear and put them in the box. He folded the top of the box so it stayed shut without tape. He put the rest of the stuff from the dresser in the bag with the clothes.

He carried the box out and put it in the floorboard of the passenger side of his truck and locked the doors before going back to get the bag of clothes. Unfortunately, , his mother came out of her room as he started down the stairs with the bag of clothes.

“What are you doing?”

“Laundry,” he lied.

She was too hungover to bother asking more questions. She went into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

Noah dropped the bag and moved as fast as he could and moved the TV to the truck before she could get back out of the bathroom. He was partially back down the stairs with the bag of clothes when he heard the bathroom door open again.

She looked down the stairs, still too out of it to process that he had the bag in his hand and had only seemingly made it a few feet from where he had been when she went into the bathroom. She turned back and went back into her room.

Puck put the bag in his truck and locked the door again. He went back up to his room quietly and looked around again. He checked under the bed. He left his rattiest pair of jeans and a single black t-shirt that fit in his closet with the clothes that he had outgrown since the previous summer. Bulking up with the weightlifting caused him to need larger shirts than he had worn the year before. He left a couple of pairs of underwear and socks in the dresser and a single pair of sweats that fit around the waist, but were too short. He made his bed. He closed the door behind him on the way out. He grabbed a couple of things out of the bathroom.

He stopped in the kitchen to see if there was any food. He found a few cans of soup and some crackers in the cabinet, along with some boxes of macaroni and cheese and a box of cereal. He opened the fridge and found a carton of milk and some cans of diet soda. Satisfied that she wasn’t going to starve, he shut it back and left.

When he pulled back into the Karofsky’s driveway, Paul came out and offered to help him.

“Is this it?”

“I don’t own much. A week’s worth of clothes or so, a couple of pairs of shoes, my work stuff for Burt’s, and few costuming pieces for Glee.”

Paul grabbed the bag. Puck took the TV up first, and then went back for the box.

“Will this make your mother suspicious?”

“I don’t think so. She’s not cleaned my room or done my laundry since forever ago and I’ve taken the TV other places before like Mike’s or Artie’s so we could play with more people. I checked that she has some food before I left. I’ll still go home every evening during the week after I get off. I just need to get organized. Thanks for helping me bring everything in.”

“Sure.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out two keys. “The slightly longer one opens the locks on the front door. The other one opens the locks on the side door that leads into the garage.”

“Really? You’re giving me keys to your house?”

“I can’t have you keeping your stuff here if you don’t have access to it, can I?” Paul winked.

“Right. I need access to the stuff I’m storing here. Got it.” Puck took them and put them on his keychain.

“Feel free to keep your stuff company whenever you want, including sleepovers. You never know when your stuff might get lonely without you.”

Puck just shook his head and laughed. “Thanks. I better get changed and grab that ice cream cake and get over to Brittany’s. Kurt will for certain have something smartassy to say about his cake not being there on time.”

“He’s not that bad.”

“Oh, he is. His bitchiness is legendary, but he’s cool.”

“I’ve never heard him be the least bit like that.”

“That’s because A - you’re an adult that he likes, and B - he loves Dave. He’s just sarcastic and funny around here. But at school, he rivals Santana for the ice glares and cutting remarks.”

“Well, in all fairness, I’m imagining the people on the receiving end did something to him.”

“Pretty much. He’s honed the art of the verbal smackdown. I should know, having been on the receiving end plenty of times.”

“Get yourself and the cake to the party then,” Paul said.

“Yeah.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Are you ready for the pool party?” Dave asked Kurt as they got into the Navigator.

Quinn hadn’t come out of the studio yet.

“I’m glad we’ve been going over there and practicing. I feel confident. I’m never going to join a swim team or swim in the lake, but I’m not afraid of pools anymore. I didn’t think a time would come when I wasn’t terrified.” He leaned over the console and Dave leaned towards him and they kissed.

Quinn opened the door. “Alright, no more macking on each other. Let’s get going.” She tossed her bag across the backseat and got in. “I can’t believe school is starting this week. We need like another month of summer. It was too short.”

“Yeah and yours started long before ours,” Kurt said. “Definitely too short.”

“I think we’re ready for next week. All of the pieces look really good.”

“I agree. You’re going to switch to your black leotard with the attached skirt right after our group number, right? It stays in place so much better for the lifts and I like the flouncing effect of the skirt when I twirl you.”

“Definitely. I just didn’t change today because I wanted to see Morgan and Erik’s piece since they will be performing it while I’m changing, and today was the first day they let anyone see it.”

“Okay.”

Dave said, “So, tomorrow we’re finishing Mercedes’ closet and then meeting up at the mall or where?”

“We’re going to Toledo. The girls want a nicer selection of clothes and Kurt wants to shop at Target. He claims that they have better school supplies,” Quinn answered.

Kurt defended himself, “It’s true.”

“There’s been a change of plans, though,” she said. “All of us who don’t go to church forgot to account for the fact that Mercedes will be going. So, the closet is being moved to tonight. We went ahead and painted it last night when we got back to her house after it dawned on us that the Sunday morning installation wouldn’t work. She can still hang the clothes in there tomorrow afternoon after we come back from shopping.”

Dave said, “Alright.”

“We went out this morning and got a closet light that we’re going to attach above the wall above closet doorway on the inside of the closet. Her room has that overhead light that doesn’t seem to shine into her closet at all. The closet light is battery operated and stays on for two minutes when you press it.”

“That’s a good idea. I’ve seen those before,” Kurt said. “She needs a floor lamp like the one you got because you can direct the light anywhere in the room.”

“After we put the stuff back in her closet tomorrow, she’s come up with a different way to rearrange her furniture, so she wants you strong men to move it for her.”

Dave laughed. “Is that what I am? The brawn?”

Kurt slid his hand onto Dave’s leg. “Maybe, but you have plenty of brains to go with it.”

“Kurt’s got plenty of muscle or he couldn’t pick me up like he does.”

“It’s all that yoga and resistance stuff he does. I’ve been working on it with him and I’m a lot more flexible than I used to be. It should help me a lot with hockey – fewer strains.”

“Saturday after next, let’s come back over and just go ice skating. I haven’t been in ages.”

“Sure,” Dave said. “You know I’m always up for skating. I’m excited we’re going to have a hockey team again. The new football coach is going to coach hockey too. So, that should cut down on the rivalry issue with having the same coach and it should also eliminate any potential conflicting practice times.”

“That’s good,” Quinn said. “Don’t forget to go to Sam’s Club. I need to get the fruit tray. I haven’t been home since yesterday morning and I wasn’t organized enough to make anything Thursday.”

“I remember. Sam’s Club is our target destination.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When they got to the party, everyone except Rachel was already there. She got there just a few minutes later, with Jesse St. James in tow. He put a big bag of Doritos on the table and approached Kurt.

“Jesse,” Kurt said, in a less than hostile but not quite welcoming tone.

“Kurt. It’s good to see you.”

“I thought you’d be off to college somewhere by now.”

“Well, I deferred my admission to UCLA for a year. I decided to take a gap year like many students in Europe do. I needed a break from the insanity that was last school year.”

“I see. So, where are you taking this gap year?”

“Here in Lima, with my uncle. I’m working at the library, helping with children’s programming during the mornings.”

“Sounds like a good fit. You can put your acting and singing skills to use.”

“That’s exactly what I thought. I’m also taking a couple of classes in the afternoons at OSU Lima.”

Rachel came bounding up. “Let’s go outside. I need to get my vegan burgers on the grill.”

“Sure.” He followed her outside.

Dave came up behind him and wrapped his arms around him. He kissed him on the side of the neck below his ear and spoke where no one could hear him. “Come to the bathroom with me?”

Kurt nodded. They’d been over at Brittany’s enough times over the summer that they didn’t feel the need to ask and they headed up the stairs to the bathroom.

“What did you want?”

Dave pressed Kurt against the bathroom wall and started kissing him on the neck.

Kurt moaned. “Here in the bathroom?”

“I can do it myself, if you’d rather not.”

“Your choice, but I get to watch if you’re doing it yourself.” Kurt wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck and pressed in to kiss him. “What got you so worked up?”

“You standing out there in the dining room with your shirt off. And my imagination just got the best of me. I spent an hour watching you in those tights this morning. God, you’re just so hot.” He ran his hands down Kurt’s arms and then down Kurt’s chest. “Can I?” He put his hands on the waistband of Kurt’s swim trunks.

Kurt nodded. “Everyone will be able to tell.”

“I really don’t care, unless it’s going to embarrass you.” He untied Kurt’s swim trunks.

Kurt nodded.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When they went outside and sat in the double chaise longue together, Santana walked past and gave Kurt one of her raised eyebrow smirks that said, “I know what you two have been up to.”

Kurt tipped his head just a bit and responded with an ice bitch, “Yeah, so?” look.

She laughed and flipped her hair and came and sat down in the lawn chair next to them. “So, you didn’t come to Cheerio camp this week.”

“I’m not a Cheerio anymore. You know that.”

“I do, but I’ve also been involuntarily conscripted to give it my best to get you back on the squad.”

“I’m playing football.”

“I figured. Maybe if I can get Davey here to be a lifter, you’d switch back to cheering.”

“I have no idea why she wants me to cheer. Is she trying to meet some kind of diversity quota? Am I the token gay cheerleader?”

“Hell if I know. I’m just supposed to use any means necessary to get you back.”

“How about if I do your nails once a week and Britt’s too, you don’t hassle me about it anymore, and we call it even?”

“Hmm. Tempting.”

“I’ll even take the time to put the little stickers on Brittany’s fingernails that she likes so much that are such a pain to do, but only every other week.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“What’s Coach Sue offering you?”

“Head Cheerio to whichever one of us can convince you.”

“Oh, God. That means other girls are going to try to get me to come back too? She’s insane. I’ll put an end to it myself once school starts. I thought you were just trying to get me to do something for you and Britt without having to actually ASK me to do it.”

“So, no nails?”

“No calling me girly names this year. Not at all. I am gay, not a girl.”

“I’ll need a new nickname for you then.”

“That’s on you to figure out, but no nails if I hate it or if it’s girly.”

“Hmm.”

Brittany came bouncing up. “Did he say ‘yes’?”

“Nope.”

“Oh, well. The food’s done. Come eat with me.” She pulled Santana to standing and led her off toward the grill.

A few minutes later, Quinn sat in the lawn chair. “Aren’t you two hungry?”

“Sure,” Dave said. “But I’m enjoying the sun and I lack motivation get up.”

She laughed at him. “Should I get the two of you some food?”

Kurt laughed. “We’re fine. We’ll get up and get some.”

“So, 9:00 tonight at Mercedes’?” Quinn asked.

“Sure,” Dave said.

Kurt said, “And tomorrow, we’ll pick everyone else up first, but she needs to skip going out to lunch after church so we can get moving. We’ll eat lunch in Toledo.”

“I’ll tell her. You two better go get something before Finn decides that whatever’s left is fair game.”

“That’s true,” Kurt said. He got up and stretched. “Come on, lazy bones.” He reached out for Dave.

They filled their plates with what they wanted to eat and went back to sit in the chaise. After they finished, they headed for the pool. Kurt sat along the edge with the girls and Dave was in the water in front of them holding on to Kurt’s ankles leaning back against the pool wall. Kurt ran his fingers through Dave’s hair while they were talking.

Less than a minute later, there was pandemonium. Puck jumped into the pool to rescue Artie as he was dumped out of the turtle floatie. Dave was pulling Kurt out of the water. The girls were in triage mode. Tina and Santana ran to put a towel down and helped pull Artie up out of Puck’s arms. Brittany and Quinn pulled Kurt up out of the water and put him on a towel on his side because he was coughing so much they thought he might choke on his back.

Mercedes was screaming at Finn. The screaming from all around brought Mr. Pierce outside. Mrs. Pierce was close behind.

“We need ice for Kurt,” Quinn said. Mrs. Pierce went to the freezer and grabbed a flexible ice pack and a towel and handed it to Quinn, who rushed back outside to put it on Kurt’s cheekbone and eye area. Mrs. Pierce followed behind and examined Kurt, who was still sputtering and coughing, but had managed to sit up with Dave supporting him.

Mercedes hadn’t let up. “What are you? Ten? How many times do you have to be told the pool is crowded, don’t do stupid stuff?”

“It was just supposed to be fun. How was I supposed to know that he’d sit up straighter and turn around?”

“Why did you have to try to play Tony Hawk and jump over the top of us to jump into the pool? And which part of you’re HUGE do you not understand? Your waves caused the turtle to tip. If Puck hadn’t been fast, Artie could have drowned!”

“Maybe he should wear a life jacket in the pool.”

“Maybe you should behave like the almost adult you are!” she screamed back.

Kurt turned his head just a little toward Dave. “I just want to go home. Take me home, please.”

“Quinn?”

She turned. “Yeah?”

“I’m taking Kurt home. Can you get Mercedes to take you home?”

“Sure.”

“Grab our cake container too, okay?”

“Yeah. I’ll get it later. I’ll get all of your stuff together and follow you out to the Navigator.”

Dave got up and stood Kurt up. He swept him up bridal style and carried him through the house and out to the passenger side of the Navigator. He stood him up, still holding on to him, opened the door, and helped him into the seat.

Quinn came out a couple of minutes later and put all of their stuff into the backseat behind the driver’s seat. She hugged Dave. “I know you’ll take care of him. I’ll see you two later.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

By the time Dave got Kurt back to the house, he wasn’t able to speak and he was having trouble breathing and was falling asleep. Dave pulled back out of the driveway and called Paul, even though he was just inside.

“Dad, come to the hospital. I’m outside. I’m taking Kurt right now. I can’t talk and drive.” He disconnected the call and started down the street. By the time he got to the stop sign, he saw Paul’s truck halfway to the stop sign.

When he pulled into the ER parking lot, he parked, and moved as fast as he could. He got Kurt out and carried him inside. He explained what happened and Kurt was put in a room and he was hooked up to breathing equipment immediately. He was wheeled away on the gurney to a more private area. Paul and Dave were at the desk giving the intake nurse the information she needed. As soon as Paul was done, he called Burt. Paul and Dave were taken back to where Kurt was. They sat in the chairs on the edge of the small room and stayed out of the way while Dave answered the questions he was being asked about what had happened.

Dave asked, “What’s going on? He was okay and then he couldn’t talk and he couldn’t breathe.”

A nurse answered sharply, “He’s drowning. We have to get the water out of his lungs.”

Dave stopped asking questions so he wouldn’t interrupt what they were doing. Kurt was moved out of the room again and Paul and Dave were left sitting and waiting. Ten minutes later, Burt was brought to the room.

“Where’s Kurt?”

“They took him. I don’t know. They said he’s drowning and they had to get the water out of his lungs. I don’t even know how they do that. But that’s what they’re doing,” Paul said.

“Drowning?”

Dave explained what had happened at Brittany’s. An orderly came in before Dave could even finish the whole story.

“I’ll need the three of you to move back to the waiting area. We need this space to treat other patients.”

The three of them went back out to the waiting room. An hour later, a doctor called out, “Family of Kurt Hummel.”

The three of them got up to speak to the doctor. “He’s in a room now. The three of you can go up to see him. He’s been sedated. He crashed and started to go into cardiac arrest. We had to intubate him, so he’s on a respirator. Once he was breathing again, his heart stabilized, and we didn’t have to defibrillate him. He’s got an IV in running some low-dose steroids to take the inflammation down and antibiotics to prevent him from getting pneumonia.”

“Is he going to be okay?”

“His prognosis is good. He was brought in quickly and he was still breathing on his own, albeit shallowly. We intubated him quickly enough to hopefully prevent any brain damage from oxygen deprivation. He’s stable now. We’ll see how he progresses before we can estimate his release.”

Paul said, “Thank you.” He wrapped his arm around Dave who was crying.

Dave sputtered, “I want to see him, please.”

“Oh, I forgot to mention, he has a slight fracture in his cheekbone. It should heal on it’s own, but he needs to take it easy for a while.”

Dave spoke up. “He’s on the varsity football team. He’s our kicker.”

“Not for a while he won’t be,” the doctor said. “When he’s released, follow-up appointments will be scheduled and those issues can be dealt with then.”

Burt said, “Right. Thanks. Let’s get upstairs.”

The three of them headed towards the elevators.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When visiting hours were over, the three of them had to leave. Dave went to Mercedes’ house with the supplies for the closet that were still in the Navigator. He pulled through the McDonald’s drive through and ate what he ordered on the way there. He pulled into her driveway a half-hour early, but started to unload the shelving pieces and put them on her front porch. Once he had everything on the porch, he locked the Navigator and rang the doorbell.

Quinn opened the door and the instant he saw her, he fell apart. She pulled him into her arms. “What’s going on? Where’s Kurt?”

Azimio came into the room and Dave got him to grab everything off the porch. A few minutes later, everything was inside and in Mercedes’ room. The four of them started sorting the stuff into stacks. Dave finally pulled himself together.

“Kurt’s in the hospital on a respirator. He’s sedated. He’s being given steroids in an IV. He had some kind of delayed drowning. I guess the exact term for what to call it is in dispute right now. It used to be called secondary drowning.”

“Oh, God,” Quinn said. “Is he going to be okay?”

“They think so. He didn’t seem to have hypoxia or something like that. No brain damage from oxygen deprivation. He was still barely breathing on his own when we got there. They intubated him when he passed out. They wouldn’t let me stay with him tonight and I just need to do this. You’ve seen it done twice, Quinn. You’re can be my assistant.”

“Sure.”

Two hours later, Mercedes’ closet was finished. Dave sat down on the floor and leaned back against her bed. Quinn sat down next to him.

Tears streamed down Dave’s cheeks. “I don’t want to go home. I don’t want to go to bed without him there. I know I sound like such a whiney loser, but I just don’t want to. I was so unhappy before him. He’s everything to me.”

“I know. I can see it your eyes. In his too, you know.”

Dave nodded.

“I love him too. Not like you do, but it’s like there’s this connection with him. I was such a bitch freshman year. If I had kept on that road, I would have never given him the time of day, but now he’s like a brother to me. Can we visit him?”

“I don’t know. He’s sedated anyway. He’s not awake. I’m going back as soon as I can in the morning. I’ll text you once I find out whether other people can visit.”

“Let’s clean this up so that we can show Mercedes.”

Dave wiped his eyes, nodded, and got up off the floor.

Quinn texted Mercedes to come back upstairs. She came in with Azimio behind her.

“It’s perfect. Well, the closet is perfect. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I’m going to head home. I’ll give you a ride home, if you want me to, Quinn.”

“Yeah, sure. Let me grab my stuff.” She looked around and handed her overnight bag to Dave and put her purse over her shoulder. “I just need to grab my suit and towel from the bathroom.”

While she was gone, Mrs. Jones came in. “Wow, that’s really nice, honey. It looks really good. Azimio needs to be heading home.”

“I know, Mom. Everyone’s leaving.”

“I’m not going shopping tomorrow. I’m going to stay with Kurt.”

Mercedes said, “Okay.”

“I’m going to text Quinn tomorrow and she can let you guys know what’s going on.” Dave picked up the toolbox.

Quinn came back with her stuff and they left.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After a long night of tossing and turning, Dave got up, took another shower, got dressed, and left the house. He stopped at McDonald’s again mostly for the coffee, but grabbed a breakfast sandwich too. He parked in the visitor’s lot and went directly to Kurt’s room. Within five minutes, Burt showed up. Dave didn’t say anything at first. He just continued to sit there holding Kurt’s hand and reading the book he had brought with him. Burt sat in a chair on the opposite side of the bed.

“Quinn and probably other people want to come see him. Is that allowed?”

“I don’t think so. Not until he’s awake.”

Dave nodded. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

“Thank you for paying close enough attention that you realized that something was wrong. You saved his life. If he had fallen asleep like that, he wouldn’t have woken up.”

“I don’t want to see Finn any time soon. I know we were planning a joint family surprise birthday party for Tuesday, but I can’t be civil to Finn right now. I don’t mind if you want to take Kurt out to dinner or lunch yourself, but I’m canceling the joint dinner we had planned. I know Finn didn’t do it on purpose, and I’m sure that eventually I will be able to be in the same room with him and not kick the crap out of him, but that won’t be by Tuesday.”

“I understand. I’ll come take him out for dinner on Tuesday, if he’s feeling up to it.”

“That’s fine.”

An hour later, the doctor came in. He examined Kurt and checked the records on his chart at the end of the bed. “He’s doing well. I’m going to send someone in to remove the tube and see how he does. We’ll get another chest x-ray and then taper the sedative.”

“Is he going to be okay?”

“It’s looking like he will. We just need to see how his lungs look and how well he can breathe on his own.”

Burt nodded.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

What seemed like forever, but was actually six hours after Dave had arrived, Kurt started to wake up. The instant he stirred, Dave stood up and put his index finger up to his mouth to indicate for Kurt to not attempt to talk. He had a nasal cannula on because when they took him off the respirator his oxygen saturation dropped too low without additional oxygen. Kurt struggled and tried to sit up and grabbed at the cannula.

Dave grabbed both of his hands. “Kurt, sweetheart, stop fighting. Relax. I’m here with you. You’re in the hospital, but you’re doing better. Leave the oxygen on. You need it. Don’t try to speak. They only took you off the respirator a few hours ago. Your throat is sore from having the tube down your throat. I’ll get you a drink.”

Kurt nodded. He lay back and gave himself a second to orient himself. He examined himself. The IV was in his left arm. He scooted to the left side of the bed and patted the space next to him. He took several swallows of the drink Dave offered him. He patted the bed insistently and gave made puppy eyes at him. Dave laughed and got in the bed and leaned back.

“I’ll answer some of the things I’m sure you’re questioning. It’s Sunday afternoon about 4:00. You’ve been here since yesterday. You’re not supposed to try to talk yet. I’m not sure when you can try.”

Kurt puckered up in a totally silly way and batted his eyes.

“Well, I can see that your sense of humor is intact. That’s good.” Dave leaned towards him carefully and kissed him gently.

Kurt smiled.

“Your right cheekbone has a slight fracture, but it should heal on its own. I’m sure you have a pretty hefty pain killer and a low dose of steroids in your IV, plus whatever goes in there to keep you hydrated and full of vitamins and whatever.”

Kurt rolled his eyes.

“Okay, not the most scientific answer, but I’m really glad you’re awake.” He took Kurt’s right hand and intertwined their fingers. “I told Quinn to tell the others not to come to the hospital. I figured you’d like to recover in peace and quiet and save the visits for maybe tomorrow.”

Kurt squeezed his hand. He pulled his hand free from Dave’s. He held his hand out flat and Dave imitated him. He drew an I, then a heart, then a U. He interlaced their fingers again.

“I love you too.”

Kurt began to fingerspell something in sign language. Dave realized what he was doing.

“Go slower.”

“T-H-A-N-K Y-O-U”

“Of course. Just spell slowly at first. I do know some sign language. It’s been a while though. I’ll catch on again.”

Kurt spelled out, “Where is my dad?”

“Oh, he was here until about 45 minutes ago. I told him to go get some lunch. He’d been here since 9:00 and hadn’t eaten anything.” Dave pulled his phone out and texted Burt to tell him that Kurt was awake.

“Where is my phone?” Kurt spelled out.

“It’s not here. I’m not actually sure where it is. Where did you put it when we were at Brittany’s?”

He spelled, “Duffle.”

“Then it’s at home in our room. I’m sorry I didn’t think to look for it and bring it with me. I’ll text my dad to look through the duffle and bring it here. He was here earlier too. He went home to get you some clothes.” Dave texted him about bringing Kurt’s phone.

“I can talk with my phone,” he signed.

“It shouldn’t be too long.”

“Kiss me.”

Dave smiled and turned and kissed him. Burt walked in on them kissing.

“Well, that’s an improvement. Smiling and kissing. I can’t say that I ever thought I’d be glad to walk in on you kissing someone,” Burt teased.

“He’s even sassy when he can’t talk,” Dave said.

“Figures,” Burt said. “Can’t say that I’m surprised.”

It wasn’t very long before Paul showed up with clothing, shoes, and Kurt’s phone. He handed it to Kurt. He took it and type “Thanks!” and texted it to Paul.

“You’re welcome. It’s good to see you awake.”

“Why I am in the hospital?” Kurt sent to Dave.

“Oh, I hadn’t gotten to that part. I guess you got water your lungs when you fell in the pool and in your vocal chords or something. Anyway, you were getting more tired and you couldn’t speak and you were barely breathing. I brought you in and they intubated you when you passed out and you were on a respirator until a couple of hours ago. Now, you’re just on the oxygen, but you can’t go home until you can keep your oxygen levels up high enough without the extra oxygen. Your chest x-ray looked clear this afternoon, but I think they put antibiotics in your drip to lower your risk of pneumonia. You’ll get antibiotic pills when you’re released. Probably tomorrow.”

Kurt nodded.

“Do I have a concussion?” He texted to Dave.

“No. Just the slight fracture in your cheekbone.”

Kurt nodded again. “Vocal chord damage?”

Dave answered, “Too early to know. The doctor just said not to let you talk. He should be back in sometime this afternoon.”

Paul asked, “Did you ring the nurse to tell her that Kurt’s awake?”

“No, I was busy trying to keep him from taking the cannula off when he wasn’t quite awake. And once he was fully awake, he insisted that I get in the bed with him. And then he started asking questions.”

Burt laughed, “Sounds about right.” He walked over and pressed the nurses call button and informed her that Kurt was awake.

A couple of minutes later, the nurse walked in. “Oh, good. You’re looking much better. I’ll notify the doctor that you’re awake. Be sure to have some more to drink. Your throat will be sore for a while.” She turned at left the room.

Kurt pointed to the cup of water. Dave held it and let him take a few drinks and then put it back on the table. Kurt lay back on the pillow and tried to relax. He reached back out for Dave’s hand.

Paul and Burt sat down and waited for the doctor to return. Kurt started playing footsie with Dave and tickling the palm of his hand. Dave was doing his best not to laugh, but he couldn’t hold the huge smile back. He pulled Kurt’s hand up to his mouth and kissed it.

When the doctor came in, Dave got up off the bed to give him room to examine Kurt.

“Well, you’re looking remarkably better. I’m going to turn the oxygen concentration down on the cannula and see if your oxygen levels stay good.” He adjusted the oxygen flow. “As soon as we can wean you off the oxygen, you can go home. You’ll need to finish out the antibiotics orally.”

Kurt text Dave, “Let the doctor see your phone.”

Dave turned to show the doctor Kurt’s texts.

“How long until I can talk?”

“I’m having you see an ENT to assess that. So, not until after your appointment. I was informed that you are a singer and that you intend to pursue that as a career, so I’m erring on the side of caution. And no speaking includes whispering. Communicating by text is a good option and easier than pen and paper or a portable whiteboard.”

Burt asked, “So, he’s going to be okay?”

“Yes. We’ve gotten the swelling under control and his x-ray earlier looked good as I said then. Now, we just have to see how long it takes for him to get back to breathing easily. I’m going to see the respiratory therapist in to show him how to use the inhaler I’m prescribing for him to use for the next week. He’ll have a follow-up appointment with a pulmonologist next week.”

Dave’s phone pinged. He showed it to the doctor. “Can I eat?”

The doctor laughed. “Sure. You can eat whatever you want, but I’d suggest bland foods, softer foods initially. Spicy foods and even foods with a lot of pepper could cause more irritation and cause you to start to cough again.”

Kurt nodded.

“I know this was an accident that you didn’t cause, but perhaps some water safety training for the person who knocked you into the pool would be a good idea.”

Kurt rolled his eyes and nodded.

Burt spoke up. “I’ll be taking care of that. I just wanted to make sure that Kurt was okay first. It was my girlfriend’s son that did it. They’re the same age. He’s… well, I know you’re a busy man and we won’t keep you. I’ll be sure to deal with the other teen involved.”

The doctor nodded. He checked Kurt’s oxygen readings on the machine. “Considering how things are progressing, I think you’ll be able to go home tomorrow. We’ll continue to lower your oxygen through the cannula and observe your oximeter readings. The respiratory therapist will be in soon.” He put Kurt’s chart back on the end of the bed and left the room.

Dave’s phone pinged. “Feed me?”

Dave laughed. “Of course.”

Kurt sat there trying to think of something that could be gotten easily. He typed, “Chili from Wendy’s? It’s soft and not spicy.”

“Sure. He wants Chili from Wendy’s.”

Paul said, “I can do that. Text me what you want too. I know you haven’t eaten anything all day.”

Dave sent Paul a text. Paul left to go get the food.

Kurt texted Dave, “Is Artie okay?”

“Yeah, Artie’s fine. He had time to see it coming. So, I’m guessing he took a deep breath before the floatie tipped. Tina said that he can tread water just using his arms, so I’m figuring that’s what he planned to do when he got dumped out. He’s mad as hell, but he’s not hurt.”

Kurt nodded. He patted the bed again. Dave smiled and slid back next to Kurt.

Burt walked around the bed to the side where the IV pole and machines were. “I’m so glad you’re okay, kiddo. I’m going to get going. Sitting around in here won’t fix what needs fixed. Enjoy your late lunch. I’m sure you’re starving. I’ll be back before visiting hours are over.”

Kurt nodded.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Burt knocked twice and then opened the door at the top of the stairwell. He called down the stairs. “Come up to the living room.” He didn’t see Carole anywhere, but her car was in the driveway. He texted her.

A few minutes later they were all seated in the living room.

“He’s off the respirator and awake. He’s going to recover. We still don’t know about his vocal chords. He has to see a specialist about that and he can’t talk or make any noise until then. He’s still on oxygen. He’ll see a pulmonologist too. That’s a lung specialist. His right cheekbone is fractured, like I said last night.”

Carole said, “That’s great that he’s awake and off the respirator.”

“Finn, I know that you didn’t do this on purpose, but what you did nearly killed Kurt. And Artie could have drowned too, but fortunately other people were paying attention and grabbed him and he’s fine. And Dave’s attention to detail led him to take Kurt to the ER instead of letting him take a nap, which was Kurt’s body shutting down, not him actually wanting to nap.”

“I didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt. I was just playing around.”

“I just said that I know you weren’t TRYING to hurt anyone. But Finn, you’re not a scrawny 10-year old anymore. You’re 6’4” and probably approaching 200 pounds. That’s a lot of body. You take up a lot of physical space and displace a lot of water when you cannonball into a swimming pool. And you’re not a high jumper or a stunt man. This wasn’t an accident. You did something to directly cause this. You took a risk, but miscalculated. Now, I’m doubly short-handed at the shop tomorrow. Kurt had taken Puck’s shift so he could take his sister somewhere. Now, I don’t have anyone to cover either of those shifts because Cassius had taken a vacation day tomorrow because he knew Kurt would be there all day. He’s out of town. Kurt’s in the hospital. Puck’s out of town.”

“What do you expect me to do? I can’t go in and do what Kurt does.”

“I know that. Missing Monday and Tuesday is going to cost Kurt about $250 in wages. You’ll cover that.”

“What?”

“You heard me. You should just be glad I’m not going to ask you to cover his medical expenses. If you had done this and it had been someone besides Kurt that had gotten injured, your mom would be looking at having to cover the cost of that person’s medical treatment. I’m certain that I won’t get off owing less than a few thousand for this. Respirators, x-rays, IVs, and whatever else – none of that is free, even with insurance. And then after that, I’ll have the bills for the doctor’s visits.”

Carole spoke up. “This is serious, Finn. Burt’s right. If Artie had ended up in the hospital, his parents would have expected me to cover the cost of his medical bills. If you were an adult, the cost would shift to you. Did you ever repay him for that bottle of his stuff that you broke?”

Finn huffed, “No. It’s stupid. He shouldn’t have left it out where it could get knocked off.”

“You will withdraw the money out of your checking account from the money you’ve been making at the shop to repay Kurt.”

“Sure.” Finn leaned forward and propped his elbows on his things. He dropped his head and put his head in hands. “I didn’t mean to hurt him or anyone. I was just cannonballing into the pool.”

Carole said, “Think about this. Are you paying attention?”

Finn sat back up and leaned against he back of the couch, letting his head flopped back.

“If it’s not your fault, then whose fault is it? Kurt and Artie didn’t hurl themselves into the pool. Your actions have consequences.”

“I know. I just feel awful. I really didn’t mean for them to get hurt.”

“You were just trying to show off and get some attention is my guess,” Burt said.

“Yeah, kind of. Just for fun.”

“I’m not sure that I’m comfortable with you driving if you can’t weigh the pros and cons of doing what you did yesterday.”

“Wait, what?”

“You’ll get a job on the weekends because I don’t have anything else I can pay you to do at the shop, and nothing on the weekends. And with football, you need your evenings to get your schoolwork done and since you have those state tests to pass, you’ll need to study for that as well. You’ll start to pay for your own insurance and gas just like Kurt. Maybe if you have to dole out the money for it, you’ll be apt to pay more attention to what you’re doing.”

“How much is it?”

“$117 a month, plus your gas. You’ll need to work about 10 hours a weekend. You can go out and start looking for a job tomorrow morning when you get up.”

“Okay.”

Carole said, “I can tell that you’re sitting there thinking how none of it would have happened if Kurt hadn’t looked back and you hadn’t kicked him in the face because he sat up taller when he looked back because that’s what you said last night. You shifted the blame to the victim. This has to stop. Being held accountable for your actions is going to happen whether you want it to or not. The day you turn 18, the things you do are your responsibility, like it or not. It is not Kurt’s fault that you kicked him in the face and that he got knocked into the pool and didn’t have the ability to take a deep breath before fell in. It’s not his fault that he aspirated water into his lungs.”

“He what?”

“Aspirated, he breathed water into his lungs. If you had walked around to the other side of the pool and jumped in, you would have caused waves in the pool, but the most that would have happened to Kurt would have been getting splashed maybe. But you knew Artie was in there. That was too much of a risk. If you wanted to have a cannonball contest, you should have gotten Artie out of the pool first.”

“I just did it. I didn’t think about that other stuff.”

Carole responded as calmly as she could. “That ‘other stuff’ is life and your surroundings. You need to pay better attention. You can withdraw the cash in the morning. You need to write Kurt and Artie an apology or apologize in person WITHOUT making excuses or blaming anyone but yourself for your choice. If you don’t, I’m afraid you won’t have any friends left in Glee.”

“I know. I know. I’ll go over to Artie’s and apologize. I’ll write Kurt a letter since he probably doesn’t want to see me.”

Burt spoke up, “I’d steer clear of Dave for now. Kurt’s a very forgiving person, but Dave looked like he could take down a bull unarmed. He cancelled our surprise party for Kurt. He can’t be in the same room with you because he’s too angry.”

Carole said, “Maybe you’d have an easier time thinking about it this way. Let’s change the scene just slightly. Let’s say I had been sitting on the side of the pool talking to the girls, and Dave decided to cowabunga over the top of us, but I heard fast-approaching feet and I sat up straight and looked back and ended up with a fractured cheekbone and on a respirator because I couldn’t breathe on my own, how would you feel toward Dave?”

“Really mad. I get it. I screwed up.”

Carole said, “I think the part you’re missing is that Dave actually loves Kurt. Kurt isn’t just Dave’s friend that he likes a lot and kisses or whatever. Dave loves Kurt, like the kind of love that leads people to get married. Not the kind of ‘I love you – let’s go to Prom together’ high school thing.”

“I don’t get it. How can they love each other like that?”

“Because they’re both guys?” Burt asked.

“No, because we’re too young for that kind of thing.”

“I was already in love with your dad by your age. We got married right out of high school. I went to college at 18 and he joined the reserves to make extra money. He couldn’t afford college and joining the reserves allowed him to attend. Some people do fall in love when they’re young. Other people are older. Some people don’t ever want to get married and other people never find anyone they fall in love with. But people can be happy married or single. Not everyone has to be married or partnered up to be happy, especially in high school. Some people enjoy being single. Being single, by choice or not, can give you time to learn more about yourself. Honestly, Finn, you don’t know who you are yet. If you don’t know who you are, you can’t expect to find someone who will love you for who you are and not for your status or looks.”

“I guess that makes sense. But I don’t understand to figure out who I am. That statement just makes no sense to me.”

Burt interrupted. “I’m ordering in for dinner. I need to go back up to the hospital before visiting hours are over. I’ll be back after I order.”

Carole nodded. “Figuring out who you are means thinking about what’s important to you. We’ll talk more about it. For now, you need to be thinking about how to incorporate what you already know like water safety rules – like not running near a pool, not jumping in when other people could get hurt, no glass near a pool, and things like that. You know a lot of things, Finn. A LOT. But what I don’t see happening is you using that knowledge or accessing it when you need it. You learned to cook this last year. You even made good grades, but you still just stick frozen pizzas in the oven when it wouldn’t take any longer to make macaroni and cheese or spaghetti. You need to be able to apply the knowledge you’re gaining to your real life.”

Finn nodded, still looking completely confused.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday morning, Kurt was released. After they got home, Kurt pulled Dave into the bathroom and they took an extremely long shower and Kurt scrubbed everywhere, which made him feel quite refreshed after not getting to shower Saturday or Sunday. He and Dave spent the day relaxing. They lay around snuggling and watching old movies most of the day. Dave put a stew together in the crockpot before he left to pick Kurt up, so they had lunch ready whenever they wanted to eat. He had a late afternoon appointment with the ENT, who put him on a week’s complete vocal rest and asked him to come back for a follow-up appointment the next week.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Tuesday morning, Kurt was awakened by Dave trying to slip out of the bed. He held onto Dave’s arm and wouldn’t let go.

“I wanted to make you breakfast in bed for your birthday.”

Kurt scooted back and snuggled closer, causing Dave to laugh.

“Is that your way of telling me to stay in the bed.”

Kurt nodded.

“Alright, but just for a few minutes. I have a plan. I can’t fall too far behind.” He kissed the back of Kurt’s neck.

Kurt sighed contentedly. He gently ran his fingers along Dave’s forearm, but applied just enough pressure not to tickle him. After a couple of minutes, he bumped Dave and pushed him back a little. Dave scooted back and Kurt rolled onto his back. It still hurt too much to lie on the right side of his face, so he didn’t roll over farther. He used his index finger to summon Dave closer and pouted. Dave laughed and got up on his hands and knees and pinned Kurt to the bed and kissed him.

“Better?”

Kurt nodded.

“Can I make your breakfast now?”

Kurt nodded.

Dave leaned down and kissed him again before he got out of bed. While he was gone, Kurt brushed his teeth, washed his face, and moisturized again. He stood and looked in the closet trying to decide what to wear. When Dave came back upstairs, he still hadn’t decided. He sat down on the bed and ate with Dave. When they finished, Kurt went back into the closet and shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, let’s see.” Dave started looking through Kurt’s clothes.

He pulled out a pair of black jeans, his new black studded boots, and a royal blue short-sleeved button up shirt. He turned and looked through Kurt’s scarves and picked on with both blue and black in it. He turned to face Kurt and showed him his selections. He was greeted with a big smile. Kurt took the items and started getting dressed. Dave chose a plaid button-up for himself and a pair of jeans. He put the brown boots on to dress the outfit up over wearing sneakers.

Kurt gave him two thumbs up and a big kiss. He turned and grabbed the tray and swaggled across the room and out the door, causing Dave to chuckle. Dave brushed his teeth, grabbed both of their phones, his wallet, and Kurt’s satchel and headed downstairs. He met Kurt coming back up. Kurt pointed to his hair.

“I’ll be downstairs waiting for you.”

Kurt fixed his hair and grabbed his inhaler. When he got back downstairs, he went in the kitchen and took his antibiotic pill and put the bottle and the inhaler in his satchel when he took it from Dave, who was standing in the entry hall. He ushered Kurt toward the studio and when he opened the door, he saw that Tina, Mercedes, Quinn, Azimio, and Artie were in there waiting for them.

“Surprise!” they all said as he stepped into the room.

He bowed and smiled.

“We didn’t go to Toledo on Sunday. Half the fun is going with you, boo,” Mercedes said. “So, let’s do it. We have Puck’s list because he said the best thing he could do for your birthday was to work your shift since you couldn’t go in.”

Kurt pulled his phone out and texted her. “No perfume shopping today. I have to stay away from anything that could cause me to start coughing, if possible. That’s why I can’t go into work yet. I have to see the pulmonologist on Friday.”

She said, “No biggie. No perfume. Let’s go.”

They got to Toledo just before the stores were opening. They shopped for a few hours, took a break for lunch, and then went to Target to get their school supplies. Kurt took Puck’s list and got the things he needed. By the time they got back to the Karofsky’s, Puck was back from the shop.

They shuffled Kurt into the dining room and sang “Happy Birthday” to him and Puck brought out a tray of cupcakes that he had made and put them on the table. Kurt smiled and Puck just nodded and winked at him. Dave grabbed the birthday themed napkins he had gotten and put them out for everyone. Once they had eaten their cupcakes, Kurt was on the receiving end of a lot of hugs, after which everyone but Quinn and Puck left.

Kurt pulled out the Target bag with all of Puck’s stuff in it and gave it to him.

“Thanks, dude.” He pulled out his wallet to give Kurt the money.

Kurt started to refuse, and then realized that Puck didn’t want charity. He took the money and put it in his wallet. He texted him thanking him again for taking his shift.

“You’re welcome. I have a date with my Xbox, if you’ll excuse me.” He took the bag and headed up the stairs.

Quinn stepped closer and opened her arms. He stepped into her hug and held her close. He could feel her tears on his shirt. He leaned back and wiped them and hugged her again.

“I’m glad you’re okay. Really glad.” She let go of him and grabbed her bags and left.

“We have about an hour before your dad’s coming to pick you up. What do you want to do?”

Kurt grabbed his satchel and his bags with his school supplies, and then he held out his other hand to Dave. Dave picked his bag up and took Kurt’s hand. Kurt put his bags down on the dresser and sat down on the futon and patted the seat next to him. Dave sat down next to him. Kurt picked his book up and leaned into Dave and they read until the doorbell rang.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt went out and got in Burt’s truck. They went to the Greek place they had gone to with Paul and Dave before. The food was good, but having a conversation was impossible. They ended up giving up and eating in silence. When they finished, Burt drove to the theater and they watched _Nanny McPhee_ together. Kurt had to focus on not actually laughing out loud in places because he found it really funny.

Once they were outside, Burt said, “I take it that you liked that.”

Kurt nodded. He texted. “It was really funny. I love Emma Thomspon.”

“I thought it was funny too.”

They got in the truck before Burt said anything else. He pulled an envelope out of the glove box. “This isn’t a birthday gift. It’s a note from Finn. I can understand if you don’t want to read it now, but don’t throw it out. Put it some place safe until you’re ready to read it.”

Kurt nodded.

“What I’m giving you is in this.” He pulled out a birthday card sized envelope this time and handed it to Kurt. This goes along with Dave’s birthday gift from Paul. He’s giving it to him early because, well, you’ll see. Go ahead and open it.”

Kurt pulled out the card and read it. There were two sheets of paper folded in quarters. He flipped the dome light on in the truck to be able to see better. He looked at both of them and his eyes went wild and then he looked at Burt like he’d lost his mind.

“Yes, really. That’s where you think you want to be. You need to go check it out first.”

Kurt was still in shock.

“I know I’ve failed you in a lot of ways, but I love you so much, kiddo. You are so much like your mom. Beautiful, smart, talented, and pig headed in equal measures.”

Kurt smiled and shook his head.

“It’s true. You can sing like and angel, just like she could. It’s like you got the best of both of us. Truly. Take lots of pictures ‘cause I want to see them when you get back.”

“One more year and you’ll officially be an adult, but you grew up a long time ago. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. You’re an amazing young man, but I wish you hadn’t had to go through all that crap people have put you through. But you’re happy now, right?”

Kurt nodded.

“Good. That’s what I want for you. I’m going to miss having you around the shop all day. It was weird being there yesterday and today without you. I’ve gotten used to you being there full time. We’ll have to go out again after your trip, when you can talk again. Conversations are a lot easier when you keep up your end.”

Kurt laughed silently and smiled.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When Kurt went in, he found Dave and Paul in the den watching TV. The instant Dave saw him, he jumped up and wrapped his arms around Kurt and spun him in a circle. He sat him back down gently.

“I can’t believe it! I’m so excited.”

Kurt took Dave’s hand and pulled him toward the door.

“Good night, Dad. Thank you for taking us to New York. It’s going to be amazing. Three weeks. Let’s go upstairs and start planning.”

“’Night, boys. I’ll text you the hotel name so you can plan our transportation. I’ve never ridden the subway. It will be new for all of us.”

“Thanks again, Dad.”

Paul nodded. “You’re welcome.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Are you going to open the envelope from Finn?”

Kurt nodded. He typed, “I’d rather just see what it says. I’m not angry with him and if he thinks I am, I need to deal with that.”

Dave kept his opinion to himself.

Kurt opened it and read it.

Dear Kurt,

I’m sorry about kicking you and knocking you into the pool. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt. I put a check from the bank in the envelope to cover the money you lost from not being able to work on Monday and Tuesday and for that lotion bottle I broke. Mom and Burt told me that if I was an adult I’d have to pay for the medical bills too. I need to stop being such a child. I’m going to try. I really am sorry. I hope you had a happy birthday.

Finn

Kurt slid the letter over so that Dave could read it. He took the check out of the envelope, stood up, and put it in his wallet to deposit.

Dave finished reading it. He was mad, but he tried to keep it under control. He gave it back to Kurt. “You’re going to forgive him, aren’t you?”

Kurt nodded. He texted, “I know he didn’t hurt me on purpose. Holding a grudge solves nothing between the two of us. He needs to learn not to be such a dufus, but I can’t be a jackass either. If he had tried to hurt me, that would be different. He’s never actually apologized for anything. It’s a start.” Kurt put the letter back in the envelope and got back up and put it in his sock drawer. He texted Finn. “I appreciate you compensating me for the lost time at work. I know you didn’t mean to hurt me. I accept your apology and I forgive you.”

“I understand your point of view, but I don’t feel that way right now. Come back over here, please.”

Kurt sat back down next to him. Dave wrapped his arm around Kurt’s shoulder and pulled him in close. Kurt tipped his head onto Dave’s chest.

“Walking into that hospital room and seeing you on that respirator, sedated and unable to breath on your own was the single saddest moment in my life. I thought I was going to lose you.” Dave kissed the top of Kurt’s head. “He did that. He nearly made me lose you. Maybe I can forgive him, but not today.”


	20. Chapter 20

The next morning, Kurt and Dave headed to school for the first day of their junior year. Kurt had asked Tina, Mercedes, and Quinn to meet him at the Navigator before school. They showed up right on time. He gave each one of them a small package. On each one, there was a small note that said, “Happy Back to School!”.

Mercedes went first. “Oh, Boo! It’s adorable. I love the zebra fur. It’s perfect.”

Tina opened hers next. “Oh, my God. It’s a coffin mini purse. It’s fantastic. It will go with everything I own. Where did you find this? They aren’t at Hot Topic.”

Dave answered. “He got it a Wilson’s when we went back-to-school shopping with Quinn.”

“Lucky duck,” Tina said. “You went back-to-school shopping with Kurt twice.”

Quinn tipped her chin up and looked to the side, feigning haughtiness. Then she laughed. She opened hers next. “It’s the wristlet that goes to my hobo bag. You snuck back in there and bought it somehow.”

Kurt smirked and raised an eyebrow.

“You’re sneaky.”

He shrugged and smiled.

“I love it.” She hugged him.

Kurt collected their wrapping paper and left it in the backseat. He hit the lock on his remote after he shut the door. The five of them headed inside. The girls pulled him into the choir room and chatted happily while they switched their stuff.

Tina put hers on. “It’s awesome. I know it is. We need a mirror in here. It’s like the perfect size. My phone, ID holder, keys, and a lipstick and mini-compact fit in it.” She catwalked along the front of the room and turned. “I love it.”

Mercedes put stuff from her backpack into her purse. She put it on crossbody style like Tina had. “Mine’s just the right size for me. I carry a few more things around than Tina does. But this isn’t too big or too small, which is what I usually find when I find something I love.” She strutted along the front, humming and struck several poses from their “Vogue” video.

Kurt clapped for both of them. He used his index finger to indicate for them to spin around. He pointed to them individually and gave them two thumbs up. Mercedes took a bow and Tina curtsied.

Quinn didn’t get up. Kurt looked over at her and tapped his foot to get her attention.

“What you got me goes inside my new hobo bag. It’s beautiful – much nicer than the other wristlets I had, and I really love it. I already moved my stuff into it and I’m going to go put my old wristlet in my glove box since I won’t need it.”

He was still tapping his foot.

“You want me to get up and prance around too?”

He nodded.

“You’ve already seen this outfit. You helped me pick it out.”

He sighed and indicated for her to go down to the front and model for them.

She rolled her eyes and got up. She walked back and forth across the front, swaying her hips and giving him her best alluring look.

He smiled and clapped.

She curtsied. “You’re crazy.”

He shrugged his shoulders. He indicated for the girls to stand along the back wall and he pulled his phone out and took a picture of each one of them and then texted it to them. The warning bell rang and they headed their separate ways for first period.

Kurt and Dave were glad to have three of their classes together and first period was one of them. Kurt had to show each teacher the doctor’s note saying that he was not allowed to speak until he went back to the ENT. He smiled when he saw Quinn slip in right before the tardy bell. She took a seat at the table right in front of him and Dave, where Mike had been sitting by himself.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Glee met after school on Thursday. They discussed options for getting new students to join since they were short one member. They opted to wear all-black outfits of their own choice plus black t-shirts with New York City written on them because that’s where Nationals would be in the spring. They settled on “Empire State of Mind” as their song in an attempt to appear more hip than the student body thought them to be.

Since they decided to stage their song to attract the largest number of people possible, they decided to perform a week from the following Tuesday outside in the courtyard at lunchtime. Mike and Brittany worked on some ideas for choreography. A group of them began to work on how to divide up the song. Kurt stayed in his chair and looked for black t-shirts with New York City written on them to find the best deal.

Once Glee let out, Kurt went to the shop to work. Dave went to the library to get the books that he and Kurt needed for their first US History assignment. It wasn’t due until the next week, but he wanted the best selection of books.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After school on Friday, Kurt, Dave, Puck, and Azimio met with the new coach. They were all surprised to walk in and find a woman sitting in the classroom waiting to talk with them.

“Good afternoon, boys. I’m glad to finally meet some of my new team. I’m Shannon Beiste. You’ll call me Coach or Coach Beiste.”

Dave spoke first. “I’m Dave Karofsky. This is Kurt Hummel. There was an incident last weekend and he’s on vocal rest, so he can’t talk right now.”

“Got it. You can tell me more about the incident in a minute.”

“I’m Noah Puckerman,” he reached out to shake her hand. “Everyone calls me Puck.”

She nodded and gave him a firm handshake.

“I’m Azimio Adams.” He shook her hand as well. “And despite the fact that pretty much all of the team gets called by their last name, I get call Azimio. There was another Adams when I first joined the team as a freshman.”

“Got it.” She pointed as she named them. “Karofsky, Hummel, Puckerman, and Adams. Unless another Adams joins this year, you’ll go by Adams in practices.”

Azimio nodded.

“You all asked to meet with me ahead of our mini camp tomorrow. I already know that Dave and Kurt had a conflict tomorrow morning and will be late, which I already said was fine.”

Puck was the one who spoke up. “Kurt asked you to meet with us because we wanted to tell you a little about the team’s history.” He pursed his lips and took a deep breath.

“That bad, huh?”

“Worse,” he said. “Two years ago when me and Azimio joined, the seniors were jerks who harassed all of the losers. They threatened the freshmen that made the team. We had to join in on the bullying or they threatened to do things to us that we would get blamed for and potentially expelled from school. So, being stupid 14 and 15 year olds, we joined in. So, we spent the whole year being idiots. We slushied people. We nailed Kurt’s lawn furniture to his roof. Kurt just joined last year and he was one of the losers the year before.”

She nodded. “Keep going.”

“So, the Puckheads, which is what the hockey team gets called, and the football team have a rivalry that goes back – I don’t even know how far. Dave was on the hockey team freshman year. So, the Puckheads did things to the football players. The football players did things in retaliation. But those were things like teepeeing people’s yards. using soap to write things on people’s car windows, letting enough air out of people’s tires that they couldn’t drive their cars – regular stupid prank stuff. But both groups targeted the losers with physical and verbal bullying.”

Dave interrupted. “The seniors on the hockey team also hazed us and required us to participate in the bullying.”

Azimio added, “We mostly slushied the losers. But the lowest of the low got dumpster tossed.”

Coach Beiste looked at Kurt. He nodded. She looked at the other three.

Puck spoke up. “I was part of it. I admit it. I dumpster tossed Kurt. I participated in all of it. Azimio didn’t target Kurt. I never saw Dave do anything to Kurt. Some of the football team threw pee balloons at Kurt.   He got the worst of the bullying. Locker shoves, locked in port-a-pottys… We were terrible to him.”

Dave wrapped his arm around Kurt’s waist. “We’re together. We both came out officially about a year ago, but with Kurt’s lack of interest in ‘manly’ things like sports, his interest in fashion, and his higher voice – all of the guys pegged him for gay years ago, from my understanding. I only met him two years ago.”

“And how did the team take the two of you dating?”

“Well, he had already joined the team the week before we started to go out. I joined a couple of days after we started dating. Honestly, I did it to keep the rest of the team from hurting him. My first love is hockey. I played football last season to protect Kurt. He’s the best kicker this team has had since forever.”

“I saw the statistics. They were impressive.”

Kurt smiled slightly.

Dave went on. “At first, the seniors who had been part of the bullying for three years already were not happy with the situation. But Azimio got everyone together the Sunday after I joined. He persuaded them to stop bullying everyone.”

“I see,” she looked at him suspiciously. “Persuaded them how?”

“Well, I told them that all of the Glee guys would quit – that’s Hudson, our quarterback, Puck, me, Kurt, Chang, Rutherford, and Dave wouldn’t play if they kept it up. Plus, I may have mentioned that I would make sure that their mommas found out about the things they’d been doing.”

“I see. And Glee is?”

“Our show choir,” Puck said.

She raised her eyebrow and looked at each one of them. “So, you all sing and dance?”

“Yeah, us and the other guys I mentioned, except Matt Rutherford’s gone now.” Puck said. “His dad got transferred this summer, so he won’t be back.”

Azimio went on. “So, after the coup, Puck and I took over running the team. He trained them and I came up with plays. We went from being big losers to making it to the Regionals.”

“That I saw. No one mentioned that it was a student-led team.”

“We had a coach,” Puck said. “He just sucked.”

“Language,” she said sternly.

“Right, sorry. He was terrible. He quit before the season was out and Miss Pillsbury filled in so that we wouldn’t have to forfeit.”

“Okay.”

“So, we still want to be student coaches,” Azimio said. “We were good at what we did. We want to keep doing it.”

“We can work on that,” she said. “I need to know more about the team dynamic. What happened after the coup?”

Puck answered. “The football players stopped with the dumpster tosses, locker slams, and slushies. The Puckheads didn’t. A group of them grabbed Dave after school and beat the crap out of him for going gay and tossed him in a dumpster. Someone caught the attack on video and sent it to Kurt anonymously. Dave’s dad’s a lawyer and when the cops picked the guys up after a second incident of them vandalizing Kurt’s SUV, Paul pressed the issue and they opted to ‘voluntarily’ withdraw and transfer to other schools rather than go to jail. They aren’t allowed on school property. The hockey team was disbanded. The coach quit. But your letter to all of us said that you’ll coach both sports, so we thought you should know about the rivalry and the fact that you will probably barely have enough players for a team.”

“I can live with that, but I can’t live with my team members injuring other people. That will not be happening.” She spoke with a sternness and finality in her tone.

Dave said, “Good. We do have one other thing. The football team is not comfortable with me and Kurt being in the locker room. Last season, they gave us five minutes to shower and move to our own section of the locker room away from them to get dressed as fast as possible and leave the locker room. We’d like privacy doors to be added to the showers.”

“Have you been in the locker room?”

“Not since school started,” Dave answered.

“Well, grab your stuff and come on.” She left the classroom and walked to the locker room.

They followed her in.

“Oh, wow,” Dave said. “That’s awesome.”

The shower area looked similar to restroom stalls. Extensions had been attached to the back walls and ran along the tops of the tiled walls. Corner sections were attached to the tiled walls at the front and doors were hung across the openings.

Kurt stepped over and examined them. They had hooks on the inside of the doors to hang towels from.

Coach Beiste said, “So, I take it these doors are new?”

“Yeah. They’re great,” Dave said.

Azimio said, “We also wanted to ask for larger towels. The ones we have are way too small to cover the larger guys’ fronts and backs at the same time. The guys would be less likely to be upset about Dave and Kurt being in here with us if we could actually cover ourselves.”

“I can do that. I’ll order a dozen new towels just for the bigger guys. I’ll buy beach towels. Plain white, nothing fancy. Just bigger. I don’t want to see anything hanging out when I walk around in here. I’m assuming that’s how the new stalls with doors got installed – the school hiring a woman coach.”

Kurt texted Dave.

“Oh, yeah. Kurt and Puck work at the same place, so scheduling is an issue. Kurt wants to know if he has to attend all of the practices. Last year, Puck didn’t have him run laps or lift weights. He doesn’t want to bulk up. You know why we can’t be here tomorrow morning. He has a ballet recital. Bulking up will not help with that. He did well without any of that last season.”

“I’m sure we can work something out. Kickers don’t need to be buff or bulky. They just need good aim, which doesn’t seem to be an issue.”

Puck asked, “There won’t be weekend practices will there? I know you scheduled this mini camp because there was no way to run a camp before school started, but is this going to be the norm?”

“No, why?”

“I go to Columbus on the weekends to see my little sister. I also will more than likely have to work Saturday mornings still. Like Dave said, Kurt and I work at the same place. We can’t always work at the same time. One of us may end up working Saturday mornings. The schedule has to be set still based on what we find out from you.”

Dave said, “All four of us are good students too. We have to have time to do our schoolwork.”

Azimio said, “And then there’s Glee.”

Dave spoke again, “I guess what we want you to know is that we’re more than just a group of high school football players. We aren’t 24/7 football fans. Kurt doesn’t even like to watch football games.”

“Why did you join the team then?”

He opened his notes app and typed. “Someone told my dad I was on the football team when I was standing there. I tried out to save face because I didn’t contradict her at the time. It just so happened that I was good at it.” He turned the phone so she could see.

“Fine. So, you all have told me that the team has been terrible. You had a terrible coach. The team behaved terribly, and the two of you,” she looked at Puck and Azimio. “turned that around.” She looked at Kurt and Dave. “And the two of you are good at what you do on the team, except that the other guys aren’t thrilled that you’re gay. Just so you know, I have no problem with that. You’ve told me that two of you work,” pointing to Kurt and Puck. “And probably some of the other guys on the team do as well. I need a tight practice schedule that does just what needs done and no horsing around. I run a tight ship, so that shouldn’t be an issue. I don’t take kindly to being sassed or back-talked though. So, if you have issues with something I say, come see me about it. Don’t start an argument with me about it in front of the team. I will give Kurt more leeway with required practices. He doesn’t need to be able to run or carry a ball or block. I won’t have him sitting around twiddling his thumbs while he could be at work making money. One more question from me. When does Glee Club meet? Is it a class?”

Puck answered. “It’s an afterschool club. We meet Mondays and Thursdays from 3:00-3:45.”

“Got it. So, if there’s nothing else, I’ll see Puck and Azimio tomorrow morning at 9:00 and Kurt and Dave whenever they get here.”

Puck and Azimio nodded and turned to leave the locker room. Kurt and Dave stayed behind.

“There’s one more thing. Our team campout.”

“Campout?”

“Yeah. We already scheduled it for two weeks from tomorrow.” Dave explained to her the purpose and what they did the year before.

“So, you two rounded up a group of dads to take the football team camping just to give some of the guys an adult to talk to and these dads are willing to go again this year?”

“Yeah. It’s all set. We’re going to the same place we went last year. It’s an unofficial event. It’s officially our campout – mine and Kurt’s.   Otherwise, we had to get permission slips and all sorts of liability stuff that we couldn’t manage last year. So, it’s ‘attend at your own risk’. You’re welcome to come. You’ll need your own tent. If you like to fish, bring poles and stuff. The lake is a good place to fish. We ate what we caught last year.”

“Alright then. I’ve got a tent of my own already. I’ll bring my fishing poles. I have to say this is the weirdest football team I’ve ever worked with.”

Dave laughed. “Just wait until you meet the teachers. I’d steer clear of Coach Sylvester for as long as you can. Try to stay on her good side without being a pushover. She likes people with a backbone, but she hates being interfered with. And she’s trying to get Kurt back.”

“Back?”

“He won Nationals for her last year.”

“She and I have already met. You were a cheerleader?”

Kurt nodded.

“You can watch it on online. It was on ESPN.”

“I’ll do that. And thanks for trying to warn me.”

“She hates Mr. Schuester who is the Glee Club sponsor.”

“I see. Can you even play tomorrow?” she asked Kurt.

He shook his head no.

“He can’t play until he gets a release next week when he goes back to the doctor.”

“Explain the incident to me.”

Dave told her the whole story.

“Alright, so my most likely candidate for quarterback is the culprit for your black eye and inability to speak?”

Kurt nodded.

“He’s also likely to become Kurt’s stepbrother. Finn’s mom and Kurt’s dad are dating.

“That’s enough new information for me for the day. Thanks for taking the time to try to help me get up to speed. I’ll add the camping trip to my calendar and you can send me the details in an email.”

Dave took Kurt’s hand and they left the locker room.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt tore a sheet out of the back of his notebook and wrote on it. “I’m tired of not being able to talk.” And drew a sad face on it. He handed it to Dave, who was sitting next to him on the futon. They were both working on the history paper they had to do.

“If I kiss you, will you feel better?”

Kurt nodded and smiled. He put his books on the end shelf and gave Dave a chance to move his. He climbed into Dave’s lap. He curled up and wrapped himself around Dave in any way that he could. Dave smiled and wrapped his arms around Kurt to hold him close and he kissed him once they were comfortable.

“Are you still tired?”

Kurt nodded.

“Why don’t we go to bed early tonight, even if we don’t go to sleep right away.”

Kurt nodded again. He sat up and grabbed his notebook. “I’m sorry I can’t…”

“Fancy, don’t think about that. It’s fine. Really. Even if you couldn’t ever again, I’d still love you.”

Tears started to flow down Kurt’s cheeks. Dave put the pen and paper back on the shelf and wrapped his arms around Kurt and pulled him close. “You’re exhausted aren’t you?”

Kurt nodded.

“You should have stayed home and rested on Tuesday and Wednesday. You pushed yourself too hard to go shopping and going to school and work. I know you’ve been having nightmares.”

Kurt didn’t acknowledge what he said.

“I’ve just been waking you up gently with kisses. I know you’re reliving it because you thrash around. I’m here for you. I love you.”

Kurt buried his face into Dave’s chest as much as he could.

“How about you let me help you shower and we get in bed? I know we need to be in Findlay for the recital, so let’s try to get some sleep. And tomorrow after showing Coach Beiste you can kick field goals a few times, I want you to come home and rest, okay?”

Kurt pointed to Dave.

“I think she’ll make me stay, but I’ll see. Let’s go shower. Up with you.”

Kurt kissed Dave on the neck before he got up. After they showered, they packed the stuff they needed for the next day. Once they had everything packed and had laid out clothes for them to wear, Dave went down and brought Kurt’s antibiotic pill and a glass of water upstairs. Kurt took the pill and used the inhaler, went and brushed his teeth, and lay back down. Dave turned the Chinese lantern lights on and the other lights off while Kurt was in the bathroom.

When Kurt came out, he folded the sheet down in quarters, pushed his pillow up a little, and lay down on his stomach. He didn’t move.

Dave tried to figure out what Kurt wanted. “Do you want me to massage you?”

Kurt shook his head, but just barely. He put his hand out and touched Dave and ran his hand down his arm gently.

“You want me to pet you?”

Kurt nodded.

“Okay.” When Dave started to rearrange, Kurt scooted more to the center of the bed. Dave straddled Kurt and began running his hands along Kurt’s arms. “Like this, Fancy?”

Kurt smiled and nodded. After a few minutes, Kurt squirmed and tried to scoot to his left. Dave let him move. Kurt patted the bed for Dave to lie down. He reached down and turned the lights off before he flipped onto his back. Kurt scooted up and sprawled out on Dave like he was a big teddy bear to snuggle to sleep. He kissed his neck and got Dave to look down and kissed him. He traced I – heart – U on Dave’s chest and then kissed him again.

“I love you too. So much. Are you comfortable?”

Kurt nodded slightly.

Dave smiled and held Kurt as they fell asleep.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They next morning, they picked Quinn up on the way to Findlay. She and Kurt warmed up together and went through a few of the lifts before the recital was set to begin. About 10 minutes before the performance was set to start, the dancers cleared out of the room and the audience members were allowed in. The studio had set up a camera to record the event.

The class performed a group piece first. Three pair dances followed. After that, a smaller group piece was next. Erik and Morgan performed, and Quinn changed into her black leotard with the attached skirt. Kurt switched from his stark white t-shirt that he wore for class and their group pieces to a very pale pink fitted t-shirt that he had dyed to match Quinn’s tights. They matched in a ying/yang way, with her black leotard at the top and pink tights and pointe shoes at the bottom and his pink shirt at the top with black fitted leggings and ballet shoes at the bottom.

She and Kurt entered the room together and stood at the back waiting for the pair that was slotted before them to finish. They entered the performance area, took their places, and waited for their music to start. Kurt saw the surprised looks on the audience faces when “Bohemian Rhapsody” began to play. He and Quinn moved smoothly together and the whole piece went just like they had planned. When they finished, they bowed and exited for the last pair to perform. They quickly changed back to perform in the finale group piece.

When the recital was over, they changed into clothes and went out to meet with Dave, Paul, and Judy. When they got out to the lobby, Kurt saw Burt with them. He hadn’t seen him in the audience. He walked straight up to Burt and hugged him.

“You were great. Your choice of music was the best of anyone’s.”

Kurt smiled and bowed slightly. He stepped closer to Dave and put his arm around Dave’s waist.

Dave put his arm around Kurt’s shoulders and side hugged him. “The whole thing was really nice. You and Quinn looked great together.”

Kurt’s face lit up with Dave’s praise.

Paul said, “I really enjoyed it.”

Judy had her arm around Quinn’s waist and pulled her close. She spoke softly. “You did it, sweetheart. You set out to be back to where you wanted to be and you worked hard to do it. Your pieces were beautiful. You and Kurt move really well together.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

She asked at a normal volume, “Shall we go get lunch?”

“Sure,” Paul said. “Kurt and Quinn can choose the place.”

Quinn moved and stood next to Kurt while he used his phone to look for places nearby. They moved to where they could sit down together.

“What about this place?” Quinn said. “I’ve never been there. Let’s click on their website.”

Kurt pulled it up and they looked through the menu.

“It looks good to me,” Quinn said. “Lots of breakfast choices, a few non-breakfast sandwiches, nice salads. Let’s try it. Thank you for doing this with me.”

He texted her. “You’re welcome. I had a lot of fun.”

“Alright, let’s tell them we picked a place. Can I still ride with the two of you?”

He nodded. He stood and offered her his hand and then his arm.

She said, “We’ve chosen.”

Kurt texted Paul and Burt the address. They went out to the parking lot and Kurt noticed that Burt got in Judy’s car in the passenger seat and she got in the back, while Paul drove. He hopped in the Navigator and followed Dave’s directions to the restaurant.

“You two looked amazing,” Dave said.

“Thanks,” Quinn said. “I’m glad you loaned him to me.”

“You’re silly. He’s not mine to loan. He can do whatever he wants.”

“I know. I’m just teasing you. I watched the competition videos from last year. You’re not a bad dancer yourself. You didn’t attract negative attention to yourself at all. I know that sounds weird, but it’s what happens when someone in the group turns the wrong way or kicks with the wrong leg. It draws the audience’s attention in a negative way. You didn’t do that at all. Azimio was a half-beat behind a few times, like he was watching someone else to get his cues as to when to do something. But he wasn’t terrible.”

“Thanks.”

“I’ve heard you’re a good line dancer. You’ll have to take me. Are you two excited to go to New York? I am. I know we’ll only be with you on the first day and part of the last day, but I’m still excited. I really think I want to go to Yale, but I’m going to go see Columbia and NYU too.”

“We’re going with you to Columbia and NYU of course, but Kurt also wants to see Juilliard and NYADA. We won’t spend all day at either place. He wants to see the music departments for like an hour – to get a feeling to go with all of the written information about the schools. He told me about the articles written about the Cheerios and Coach Sue. They all sound fantastic, but being on the Cheerios can’t actually enjoyable most of the time because she’s so awful to everyone. Yes, she’s protective of the Cheerios from non-Cheerios, but she is abusive. She gets results, but at the cost of people’s sense of worth. Kurt doesn’t want to go be a part of a top-notch program where it’s like being on the top-ranked cheer squad. He’d rather go someplace where people teach because they love what they teach.”

Kurt nodded in agreement with what Dave said.

“I can understand that. Cheerios is only part of my day. I can live with her behavior. But to go to a school where the entire program is like that would be too much. Especially if there are places where you can learn that aren’t like that. If we had two really good cheer teams and one was lead by someone nice and one was led by Coach Sue, very few people would stick around and put up with her nonsense. But she does write excellent recommendation letters for the girls and a lot of them get scholarships to cheer in college. Girls who wouldn’t get a chance to go to college otherwise, so the girls put up with it.”

Dave said, “Next right, then we’re there.”

Kurt turned and saw the restaurant. He pulled off the road into the parking lot.

Quinn said, “I hope it’s as good as the pictures looked.”

Kurt got out and opened Quinn’s door for her. When she got out, he pointed to her dress, gave her two thumbs up, and smiled.

“Thank you.”

He took her hand and walked around to the other side and took Dave’s hand and they walked around to the entrance on the front. They were seated fairly quickly. The server took their drink orders and gave them time to look over the menu. When she came back everyone ordered.

While they waited, the topic of conversation was football, and then the Cheerios. Quinn was thrilled to be back on the squad. She hoped it would help boost her college applications if they won Nationals again. Dave talked about the upgrades to the guys’ locker room. It didn’t take long for their food to come and everyone’s selections looked delicious.

When they finished eating, the three teens stepped outside with the adults a few feet back.

“Take me back with you, please?” Quinn said.

Kurt smiled at her and winked. She turned back and waved at Judy and told her that she was riding with the guys. Once they were back in town, they dropped her off at her house, and then went on to the school.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt and Dave went in the locker room and changed into their uniforms. Once they were ready, they went out to look for Coach Beiste. Kurt stopped on the sidelines and sat down to stretch a bit again. Dave brought her back with him.

“Alright, Hummel. I want to see you kick some field goals, and then I want you off my field. Until you have a signed doctor’s note, I can’t let you near the other players. Let’s see you kick.”

The rest of the guys moved off the field for a short break. They lined up and got drinks and sat down along the edge of the field. She called up a couple of freshmen that were hoping to make the team to retrieve the balls. Dave set the ball up and Kurt kicked it straight between the uprights. Dave grabbed a second, third, fourth, and fifth ball. Kurt kicked all of them right where they needed to go.

She blew her whistle and had them come back. She stood down a ways from the rest of the players. “Have you practiced?”

He shook his head.

“When was the last time you played?”

Dave answered for him. “Last December.”

“Ain’t that something? Well, alright then. You’re the kicker. Karofsky and Adams will keep the opposing team from turning you into road kill just like last year. I know you can’t play yet, so feel free to head home.”

He nodded.

Dave followed him off the field to the locker room to change. Once he was ready to go, Dave walked him out to the parking lot. “Go home and rest. You can pick me up at 6:00. You were awesome! I’ll see you later.” He leaned into Kurt’s space and kissed him quickly before he got into the driver’s seat. Dave shut his door and waved when he drove off. He headed back to the football field.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt spent the rest of the weekend working ahead in all of his classes while Dave was at the school playing football. He didn’t have the assignments that he would have to do yet, but he read ahead and just did the entire problem set for each math section, even though he knew he’d only get assigned about half of them. He thought about trying to spend some time with his dad, but since he still wasn’t allowed to talk, he didn’t know what they would do besides sit in the same room together.

Once he had finished working ahead as much as he thought would be reasonable, he started working on the menu for Dave’s birthday dinner. He also baked a cake and a big batch of cookies to resume his Monday cookie day at school. He had made about $25 a week doing that the previous school year and he planned to continue unless he was told to stop.

Sunday afternoon after Kurt had gone back upstairs, Paul knocked on the open bedroom door. Kurt looked up from the desk and motioned for him to come in.

“I just came up to see how you’re doing.”

Kurt pulled a sheet of paper out of his notebook and wrote, “I’m fine. Thanks for checking on me.” He showed Paul the paper.

“Fine, huh? That’s vague, but better than terrible or something.”

Kurt nodded.

“I know you have stayed in the background with regards to my family. I know you’ve done that to attempt to spare Dave any more pain from being rejected again, but all of them know that you live here. None of them have said anything derogatory to me when I’ve spent time with them. My parents want to have him over for dinner on his birthday. They’ve invited other relatives on my side, not his mother’s. I’ll understand if you don’t want to go, but I wanted to tell you about it since they finally got the details worked out a few minutes ago. He doesn’t know yet, so don’t think he’s keeping secrets from you.”

Kurt nodded. He wrote on the paper, “I’ll think about it. Is it a surprise or are you going to tell him?”

“I’ll tell him.”

He wrote, “After you tell him, I’ll talk to him about it.”

“Have you two worked on the itinerary?”

Kurt smiled and pulled out a different notebook and opened it and handed it to Paul.

He looked over the page. “Those are some good ideas.” He moved closer to the desk so he could just look over Kurt’s shoulder as he wrote.

Kurt wrote, “It’s hard because there are so many touristy places I want to go, but I want to see the City itself, not just spend all day inside a museum, no matter how much I REALLY want to go to the museum.”

Paul nodded. “I get that. Four days, not even quite four full days, to fit in college campus visits and sightseeing is hard, but you’re already missing two days of school.”

Kurt nodded. He took the sheet of paper back from Paul and wrote. “We can go there for a vacation some time and see the sights if we decide not to try to go to school there, but we really need to know if living there and going to school there is worth the sacrifices. Dave and I will have to live in an apartment the size of this room. And I’ll have to work a lot to pay half the expenses.”

“Isn’t Burt going to help you with college?”

Kurt nodded and wrote. “I don’t know how much though. He’s never said. He doesn’t have that much money. Plus, I’ve already gotten used to paying for everything myself.”

“What do you mean everything?”

Kurt made a list. “Cell phone, toiletries, clothing, car insurance, food, gas, school supplies, any ‘extras’.”

Paul read through the list. “Is he not paying for anything at all?”

“Health insurance. He has a single parent/child plan. He hasn’t asked me to pay the difference between that and an individual policy. And he’s going to end up paying a few thousand on the hospital and doctor’s bills from the pool incident.”

Paul looked over the list. One thing caught his eye. “What do you mean by ‘food’? Like when you and Dave go out to eat?”

Kurt wrote, “Out to eat = ‘extras’, like going to the movies.”

“But other than that you eat here.”

Kurt wrote, “When Dave and I do the grocery shopping I pay one-quarter in cash and he pays the rest with the debit card you gave him to your account. We decided that since Judy and Quinn eat here sometimes and since I eat less than you and Dave, I should pay one-quarter.”

“I didn’t know you were paying anything towards the groceries. All I ever see are the debit card transactions on my bank statement. I never bothered to look at the receipts from the grocery store or Sam’s Club. I’m not sure that I’m okay with that.”

Kurt wrote, “You already let me live here without paying rent. The least I can do is cover the cost of my food. It’s fine. Really.”

Paul didn’t say anything

Kurt wrote more, “Are Judy and Quinn going to your parents for Dave’s birthday?”

“Judy is. She’s giving Quinn the option, just like I’m giving you. We don’t want either one of you to feel like you have to participate. We’re just glad that you, Dave, and Quinn get along so well.”

“Yeah. She came back from Columbus different. Maybe it’s who she was under the HBIC façade or maybe the whole experience changed her. Now she’s like the little sister I always wanted. My mom couldn’t have any more kids. She wasn’t supposed to be able to have any, but I was a surprise. They had given up. That’s why they bought the one-bedroom place. Dad added the dining room and basement addition.”

“So, now you’ve adopted a nearly grown little sister?”

Kurt smiled and nodded.

Paul laughed. “She seems good with it. I’ll leave you to whatever you were working on. You can let me know once you decide about Tuesday.”

Kurt nodded.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday morning, Kurt headed to the ENT’s office. He met up with Burt and they went in together. It didn’t take long before he was called back to the exam room. He sat in what reminded him of a dentist’s chair. When the doctor came in, he introduced himself and used a scope to examine Kurt’s throat.

“Well, I see no evidence of an ulcer on your vocal cords, the ER doctor’s recommendation of vocal rest and the steroid inhaler was the right course of action just in case the tube had injured your vocal cords. I’m recommending a second week of vocal rest and to continue with the inhaler until you see the pulmonologist. The idea is to let the whole area rest after coughing so violently. Talking or singing could trigger you to cough again until your lungs are healed and you won’t know that until you see the pulmonologist. But there’s no damage to your vocal cords. Everything looks good from my perspective.”

Kurt looked relieved and smiled.

Burt said, “He’ll need another note for school.”

“I’ll put that in the chart. You can pick it up when you leave.” The doctor stood up.

Kurt nodded.

“Kid’s got a voice on him and he’s planning to go into theater, so you’ve made his day. I know he’s been worried since last week that he might lose his ability to sing.”

“Well, everything looks fine to me. If you have any trouble, next week, call the office and we can set you up with a speech language pathologist to set you up with some vocal exercises, but I really don’t think that will be necessary.” He opened the door and stepped out.

Burt and Kurt went up to the checkout counter and waited for the note Kurt needed before they left. Kurt put the note in his satchel.

“Can I take you for some coffee or something?”

Kurt took his phone out to check the time. He shook his head no.

“Well, alright then. I’ll see you later this afternoon at the shop.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When he got back to school, Kurt took the storage container of cookies he had made in with him and waited for Dave outside the classroom he was in. When he came out, he saw Kurt and a smiled spread across his face. He took the few steps it took to reach Kurt and wrapped his arm around his waist. They stopped by Dave’s locker to drop off his books and grab their lunch. They headed for the cafeteria and sat down at the football team table and Kurt put the container on the table.

“Now, that’s what I’m talking about,” Azimio said. “The cookies have returned.” Azimio banged his hand on the table just loud enough to get everyone’s attention. “For those of you new to the football team, this is Hummel. He is the best baker in all of Lima. He brings cookies for everyone on Mondays during football season. They’re $1 a piece. You won’t be disappointed. Trust me. And in case you missed it over the weekend, Hummel’s our kicker. Don’t mess with him. He had a 100% field goal record last year. We like winning. You see someone messing with him, step in. Got it?”

The guys around the table all nodded. Strando grabbed for the storage container. And from there it made it’s way around the table. Kurt saw some of the new guys looking unconvinced, but since everyone else was taking one, they put their dollar in and took a cookie. Ten minutes later, there were no cookies left.

“Told ya’ll didn’t I? I saw the doubt on some of ya’lls’ faces. He also makes the best cakes, but those are for special occasions.” He threw his arm around Puck’s shoulders. “Puck, my man here, is the king of cupcakes. I’m especially fond of the lemon ones. Maybe ya’ll be important enough to get one some day.” He thumped Puck on the back. “Now, ya’ll listen up. We don’t put up with no punk attitudes. Hassling Hummel or Puck ‘cause they can cook won’t fly and it’ll also get you knocked off any potential invite lists to stuff. And for any of you that can’t cook, you’ll be signing up for Home Ec next semester. We all did it last spring and it was cool. You get to eat what you make. Lasagna, enchilada casseroles, and other stuff. Sign up.”

The group that took it the previous spring gave him two thumbs up. The rest seemed more convinced.

“And one last thing. Coach Beiste made her position on treating everyone with respect quite clear. That didn’t just mean the rest of us on the team. That meant everyone, including the teachers. Treat the Cheerios or any other girl or guy you want to date respectfully. If we hear of you pushing yourselves on anyone, Coach Beiste will hear about it. This team used to be at the top socially because we terrified people into submission. People turned and walked the other direction to avoid having to be near us. That’s not respect. That’s fear. That ended last year. We’re not about that anymore. Respect. That’s us now.”

Puck spoke up next. “If any of you see the Puckheads doing anything out of line, let me or Azimio know. Beiste isn’t going to put up with it. Even though hockey doesn’t start until football ends, she will kick them off the team before their season even starts. She’s not to be messed with. And like Azimio said, me and whoever else can score as many touchdowns as we can, but the team with the best kicker always comes out ahead in a close game. Don’t let them touch Kurt.”

There were nods around the table. Everyone went back to eating.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

That afternoon, Kurt went to the shop when Glee ended. Not being able to sing made it decidedly less fun, but he did enjoy dancing with everyone. He worked through the list of repairs that had his name on it and finished up a little before closing at 8:00.

He went in the office and sat down to look at the schedule to try to figure out how to make it work. Coach Beiste had sent out notes to all the team members during last period letting them know when practices would be. The only way he could see to make it work was to try to get Mr. Schue to agree to meet for 45 minutes of their lunch period when they needed extra rehearsal time along with the Monday and Thursday slot after school for 45 minutes. Football practices were Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 3:00-6:00, but Kurt only had to go on Wednesdays and not for the whole time.

He finally came up with:

Puck – Mondays 4:00-8:00

Kurt – Tuesdays 3:00-8:00

Kurt – Wednesdays 5:00-8:00

Puck – Thursdays 4:00-8:00

Puck – Saturdays 7:00-11:00

He hated having to schedule Puck to work Saturday mornings again since he knew how important spending time with Sarah was to Puck, but with football practices running so late, he just couldn’t work out any other way for Puck to get as many hours as he needed.

He took a photo of the schedule and put it back up on the wall. He left when Cassius did so he wouldn’t be in the parking lot alone. He drove back home. When he got there, he headed straight to the downstairs half bathroom to wash his hands again, and then into the kitchen to grab a sandwich and some raw veggies and some fruit. He texted Dave that he was home once he sat down to eat. Dave came down to the dining room. He leaned over and gave Kurt a kiss.

“We missed you at dinner. You didn’t have to eat a sandwich. I put your dinner in a storage container.”

Kurt shrugged. He pulled his phone out and typed, “I didn’t know. Sorry”. After Dave saw it, he pulled up the photo he had taken of the schedule. Dave looked at it. Kurt took the phone back and typed, “I’ll miss dinner on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from now on, but I’ll only be working those two days.”

“Alright. We’ll work out a schedule where what we have those two nights will be something that tastes decent reheated.”

Kurt leaned into him for a minute. He sat back up and finished eating his food and cleared his place.

“Just so you know, Puck’s here. I guess he and his mother got into an argument about something.”

Kurt nodded. He typed, “I’m going to go show him the schedule.”

“Okay. I’ll be in our room.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt knocked on the guest room door. Puck got up and opened the door.

“Oh, hey, Kurt.” He stepped back and let Kurt in. He offered Kurt a sheet of paper.

“I have our schedules. I got them figured out tonight. I’ll pay you for today’s shift, even though you didn’t work because I should have realized that you needed to be the one to work Mondays, not me. I just didn’t think it through carefully enough until I finished tonight and sat down with the schedule at the shop.” He wrote the weekly schedule down for Puck.

“It’s fine. I appreciate you working this out so that I can still work there. It’s a great place to work. I like that I can do the work now, not just the easy stuff like the oil changes. You’ve been great, teaching me and everything.”

Kurt nodded, and then wrote, “I’m sorry about Saturday mornings. I can switch you back once football ends. I know you need the money though.”

“I can still get to Columbus by lunch time if I leave at 11:00. It’s fine. I’ll just spend Friday nights here since Paul’s okay with it. It will be fine. I know there’s no other way for me to get the hours in with Glee and football both.”

Kurt nodded. He walked toward the door. He opened it and waved.

“Yeah, see ya.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“You’re exhausted,” Dave said as Kurt came in the room.

Kurt shut and locked the door behind him. He walked to the closet and stripped, grabbed pajama pants from the dresser, and went into the bathroom. By the time the water was warm, Dave was in the bathroom with him. They got in the shower. When they got out, Kurt did his moisturizing, used his inhaler, went straight to their bed and plopped down.

Dave turned all of the lights off. “Your eye is looking a lot better,” Dave said as he climbed into bed. “I wish I knew how to help. I know a lot of your frustration is because you can’t talk. Six more days.”

Kurt nodded. He patted his chest and Dave scooted closer and laid his head on Kurt’s shoulder. Kurt kissed the top of Dave’s head.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next morning, Kurt slipped out of bed and made French toast, eggs, and turkey sausages for Dave for breakfast. He brought the tray up and sat it on the bed. He ran his thumb across Dave’s lips before kissing him gently. Dave opened his eyes and smiled. Kurt pointed to the other side of the bed.

“Oh, you made me breakfast. Thank you.”

Kurt picked the tray up and held it so that Dave could scoot up in the bed. He sat it down in front of him and pulled his phone out and pressed the video he had pulled up on YouTube before he came up the stairs. It played “Happy Birthday”.

Dave smiled. “Thanks. This looks great.” He picked up his fork and took a bite. “Mmm. So good.”

Kurt took a bite as well. They finished eating quickly since Kurt couldn’t talk. He picked the tray up and sat it on the dresser to take back down later. He pulled out a handmade card, sat down facing Dave again, and gave it to him. On the front he had drawn the New York City skyline behind Central Park. Dave opened it. It said, “Happy Birthday to the sweetest guy I know. I love you so much. I can’t wait for our trip to NYC!” At the bottom was a heart.

“Me neither. I’m really excited.” He put the card on the side table, and then reached out for Kurt and patted his lap. Kurt crawled up and straddled Dave’s lap. He leaned forward and kissed him. He kissed down his neck and let his hands wander.

They both ended up back in the bathroom to take a shower before they could get dressed and leave for school.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt got a pass from Miss Pillsbury ten minutes before his third period class ended. He went to her office and met Paul to get the cake from him that he had made and frozen Sunday afternoon. He thanked him and took it to the cafeteria and waited for the bell to ring and texted Dave that he was waiting at the Glee table for him. Dave put his books away and grabbed their lunches. The other Gleeks rushed to the cafeteria, while Azimio struck up a conversation with Dave to slow his arrival.

When Dave and Azimio got to the table, everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to Dave. Kurt cut the cake in slices and passed them out to everyone.

Dave slid into the spot next to Kurt and Azimio sat next to Dave.

“Happy birthday, dude. You did a good job picking him out, Dave.”

Kurt gave him the stink eye.

“What? I say something nice and you glare at me?”

Kurt gave him and Dave a second piece of cake.

“See, now that’s better. Being the birthday boy’s best friend gets me seconds. I can live with that.” He held his fist out for a fist bump.

Kurt rolled his eyes and fist bumped him.

Azimio cackled. “This is good.”

Kurt smiled.

“When are they ever going to let you talk, dude?”

Kurt held his fingers up one at a time.

“Five more days?”

Kurt nodded.

“Good. Cause you’re hella funny and you not talking sucks.”

Kurt just shook his head and rolled his eyes. He pulled his phone out and texted Puck. “Do you think you could come to the shop when you get out of football practice and work for a couple of hours?”

Puck read the text and looked up at Kurt and nodded.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

As soon as Puck got to the shop, Kurt left and went home. He took a shower and redressed. He had told Dave that he had to work, but he had seen the sad look in Dave’s eyes. He thought about how many times he had heard those words and knew that he didn’t want to be the one to say that to someone he loved. Since Puck had left practice a little early, Kurt was dressed and ready to go by the time Dave got home from football practice.

Dave walked into their bedroom to get ready to go. “Kurt?”

Kurt smiled and put his French book down. He got up and hugged Dave. He drew I-heart-U on Dave’s bicep. He moved his hands to the sides of Dave’s face and gently ran his thumbs along Dave’s cheeks. He kissed Dave. Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt, with his hands on Kurt’s shoulder blades. He pulled him closer. Kurt put his head on Dave’s shoulder.

“I didn’t think you could go. I’m glad you are though.”

Kurt pulled back enough that he could look Dave in the eyes. His smile lit up his face. That’s what Kurt wanted to see. He smiled back. He unwrapped himself and stepped back and took Dave’s hand and walked into the closet. He let go of Dave’s hand and grabbed the notebook on the desk.  

“Get dressed, so we aren’t late.”

Dave read it. “Sure thing, Mr. Bossy Pants.”

Kurt stuck his tongue out and then blew kisses Dave’s direction.

Dave picked an outfit out and changed, but he didn’t manage to get his shirt buttoned without Kurt’s interference. The process to get it buttoned left him laughing so hard tears were streaming down his cheeks. He finally managed to capture both of Kurt’s hands and held them behind Kurt’s back and kissed him breathless.

Paul knocked on the open door. “Dave? What’s taking you so long?” He heard laughing.

Dave stepped out of the closet and quickly buttoned his shirt. He tried to contain the huge grin on his face, but was failing spectacularly. Kurt straightened his shirt and stepped out of the closet behind Dave, also unable to hide his grin.

Paul laughed. “I see. You’ve had help. It’s good to see you, Kurt. I didn’t think you were going to be able to make it.”

“We’re ready,” Dave said, still laughing. He tucked his shirt on and took the belt Kurt was holding out for him. He put it on and grabbed Kurt’s hand. They followed Paul down the stairs and got into Judy’s car. Kurt slid into the center position next to Quinn.

The meal was enjoyable and everyone was friendly to Judy, Quinn, and Kurt. Paul showed Kurt and Quinn off like they were his own kids by showing his parents their piece from the recital on his phone. By the time they left, Kurt had met everyone personally and he had been hugged so many times he lost count.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When they got back up to their room, Dave closed and locked the door. He scooped Kurt up and spun him around and stood him back up. “I had a lot of fun. I haven’t seen a lot of them since I’m not even sure since we didn’t really do anything with anyone for Christmas last year.”

Kurt smiled. He stepped back towards Dave and wrapped his arms around his neck and kissed him. When they slow the kissing down to catch their breath, Kurt nodded toward the bathroom.

“Definitely.” He put Kurt’s hands on his shirt and he reached out and started unbuttoning Kurt’s shirt.

When they were back in their room, they pulled their textbooks out and did what they needed to as quickly as possible, so they could get in bed. Dave still had to be at school on time the next morning and Kurt had his appointment with the pulmonologist. They packed everything up and got in bed.

Kurt got Dave to choose how he wanted to sleep. Kurt got in bed and curled up so that Dave could snuggle him as the big spoon.

“Dinner went so much better than I had anticipated. I didn’t think anyone would be outright mean or glare at us, or anything, but they acted like there was nothing different about me bringing you versus me bring a girl, like they really are completely accepting that I’m gay. Dad said they would be okay with it, but okay is different from accepting. My grandma thinks you’re adorable. We should go over there and bake with her. She’ll love the fact that you can bake and she’ll think it’s great that I learned to cook just to impress you. It’s not really on the way to Findlay, but we could come back that way and stop and see them once in a while. They moved up there to move out of the city, my grandma said. She grew up near there and only moved to Lima because that’s where my grandpa lived. We’ll talk about it more later.”

Kurt took Dave’s hand and kissed his palm, and then placed Dave’s hand over his heart and put his own hand over the top.

“I love you too.” Dave squeezed him a tiny bit and Kurt snuggled back as close as he could get.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt’s appointment the next morning went well, and he was given instructions on tapering off the inhaler. He went back to school and waited outside Dave’s classroom and they went to lunch together. Kurt led him to a table on the periphery of the courtyard where they could have privacy. He shared the good news. Dave was so overjoyed after he read what Kurt had written out that he leaned over and kissed Kurt.

Kurt was surprised, but smiled and kissed him back. Kurt pulled their lunches out and sat them on the table. Dave scooted closer and put his arm around Kurt’s waist and kissed him on the neck.

“I can’t even tell you how glad I am that there’s no permanent damage.”

Kurt smiled and popped a grape into Dave’s mouth.

“Here you two are. I was looking all over for you.” Quinn plopped down at the table with them.

Kurt slid the notebook toward her so she could read it. When she finished, she got up and wrapped her arms around him from the back and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m so glad. That’s the best news.”

Kurt laughed silently and nodded. He turned and hugged her properly. Mercedes walked up.

“Now, what’s going on over here? I can’t find my best friends anywhere, and then when I do, they’re over here hugging without ME?”

“Read that page,” Quinn said.

Mercedes put her tray down and picked the notebook up. “Kurt! That’s amazing. My turn to hug him.” She walked around the table and hugged Kurt.

They both moved back around the table and sat down. Next came Azimio.

“Now, I know I did not see my girl hanging on you, Kurt.” He mock punched Kurt in the shoulder.

Mercedes handed him the notebook.

“Aw, dude. That rocks. So, a few more days and you can talk and you’re gonna be fine?”

Kurt nodded.

“Awesome. So, we’re not gonna lose Friday ‘cause one of us has gotta kick the ball. We know none of us can do it like you.”

Kurt nodded again.

“Damn. That’s the best football news all week. It’s been a good week all around. Monday you bring cookies. Tuesday you bring a cake. Today you tell us your gonna be okay. How you gonna top that tomorrow, dude?”

Kurt gave him the finger.

“Aw, now. No thanks. You save that for Davey there. He’ll like it a whole lot more than me.”

Kurt smacked him in the arm.

“Hey now. No beatin’ on me.” Azimio reached over and helped himself to a few of Kurt’s grapes.

Mercedes said, “There’s nothing he can do tomorrow to top the good news that he doesn’t have any permanent lung damage, BUT if he’s trying to outdo the treats so far, I’d say one of those cakes with the cherries in the middle ought to do it.”

Tina and Artie showed up next.

Artie asked, “Why is it that everyone but us knows where the secret lunch meeting is?”

Dave rolled his eyes. “Kurt brought me over here because it was quiet. Quinn found us, then Mercedes, and then Azimio. Read the notebook.”

A couple of minutes later, Tina said, “Oh, my God, Kurt. That’s amazing. I’m so happy for you.”

“Yeah, that’s dope, dude.”

Tina asked, “You and Quinn are still going to show us your dance tomorrow at lunch, right? We’re meeting in the dance studio?”

Quinn answered. “Yes, since you are determined to see it. We’ll change and do it right at the beginning so we still have time to eat.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Thursday at lunch, Quinn and Kurt showed the other four their dance. It was met with great enthusiasm. Tina insisted that they had to do it again for the whole Glee Club that afternoon. Quinn caved and agreed when Tina begged her. Then she turned the puppy eyes on Kurt, who couldn’t refuse her.

Afterschool, Kurt and Quinn put their dance outfits back on and Tina led the whole club to the studio. They stood along the wall and watched. When they finished, everyone clapped. Quinn and Kurt changed back quickly and went back to the choir room. They went back outside and practiced their song for the rest of the rehearsal.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Friday evening, the Titans won their first game of the season at home. The stands were full of fans, which was definitely an unusual start for the year. Afterwards, there was a big party at Strando’s place, but Kurt didn’t want to go. He and Dave had considered going out, but decided to pick up Chinese on the way home.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Saturday morning, Quinn, Kurt, and Dave headed to Findlay. Quinn had convinced Kurt to let Judy continue to pay for them to take the pairs class for the fall. Afterwards, they went ice skating just as they had planned a few weeks back.

Kurt put his skates on and went down to the ice and glided smoothly out on to the ice a few feet away from the rink opening. The rink was more empty than usual. Kurt took a lap around once to get himself acclimated. The second time around he turned backwards and skated back through the center, which was empty.

He turned and skated back toward the center and when he got to the middle he did a lutz followed by a sit spin. When he came out of the spin, he skated around in a circle to regain some momentum. He turned to skate backwards again and did a few single salchow jumps, and then moved into a camel spin. He skated out of the spin and turned backwards again and did a waltz jump. He slowed and stopped.

He looked around the rink, but didn’t see the other two out on the ice. He skated back over to where he had entered the rink and found the two of them just standing there. He shrugged his shoulders and looked at them quizzically and motioned for them to come on out on the ice. They moved towards the entry point and stepped out. Quinn skated away, but Dave stayed back. He took Kurt’s hand and started to skate around the rink.

“You looked great out there. So, fluid and just really sexy.”

Kurt squeezed his hand, and then slipped his hand free and went back out to the center to show off for his easily impressed boyfriend. After about 10 minutes, he realized that Dave was standing along the edge of the rink watching him.

He skated back over to Dave standing and took his hand again and started to skate around the rink. Quinn dropped back and let them catch up to her. She skated around with them the next few times around.

“It’s been too long since I’ve skated much,” she said. “I’m going to be so sore tomorrow.”

“Well, tomorrow you can lie around on the boat and not expend any energy.”

“That’s not as much fun as hiking with you two and the swimming in the lake. I’ll just do some stretches tonight and again tomorrow morning. This might be the last weekend it’s still warm enough to get in and swim.”

“That’s true.”

Kurt skated away from the two of them and went back out to the center to show off more for Dave.

Before they left, Dave took Kurt’s hand and said, “Restroom break before we drive back.”

“Good idea,” Quinn said. She turned and walked towards the ladies room.

Dave pulled Kurt into the handicapped stall and kissed him. He spoke quietly in Kurt’s ear. “It took all my concentration to not end up unable to skate out there. I need ice down my pants.”

Kurt kissed up Dave’s neck.

“You’re not the least bit remorseful.”

Kurt shook his head.

“You were showing off on purpose, weren’t you?”

Kurt kissed him, preventing him from saying anything else. He wrapped his hands around Dave’s neck and buried his head in Dave’s shoulder.

“I’m not mad.” He tipped Kurt’s chin up and kissed him again. “You just don’t know how attractive you are to me. Going out and showing off for me, that’s like fluffing your tail out if you were a peacock. I already want to kiss you all the time.”

Kurt kissed him again, and then pointed to the door.

“I know. We have to go.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday morning, Kurt woke up before Dave. He went down to make breakfast for the two of them, but within a few minutes he heard footsteps on the stairs and then felt Dave’s arms wrap around him from the back, followed by gentle kisses on the back of the neck.

“I see that you’re making us breakfast, which I appreciate, but I had hoped for a nice snuggled before we got up.”

Kurt turned the heat down and turned around and kissed Dave. After a few kisses, he turned back around, turned the heat back up, and returned to cooking their breakfast. Once it was done, he plated their food and offered Dave’s plate to him.

“Are we eating down here?”

Kurt shook his head.

Dave grabbed Kurt’s plate too. “Then bring some juice up, okay?” Dave carried the plates back up the stairs.

Kurt followed him up and put one glass on each side table and sat down next to Dave on the futon. They ate in silence, as they had become accustomed to over the last two weeks. Once they finished, Kurt stacked the plates and glasses together on the end of the dresser and locked the door.

He turned some music on and started dancing around the room quite provocatively and stripped his pajama pants off and danced around in his form-fitting boxer briefs. He ended his dance by sitting on the end of their bed beckoning Dave toward him with his index finger. Dave got up and Kurt slid back in the bed.

“You’re a little minx.” He crawled up the bed and straddled Kurt and leaned down and kissed him.

Kurt reached up and gently pulled Dave down and kissed him. “I love you. I’m not too tired anymore. And while you were out mowing yesterday, I had a fudgesicle and I didn’t choke or cough at all.”

“Oh, God. You’re going to kill me.”

“Does that mean you don’t want me to?”

“It means – yes, please.”

“That sounds more like it.” Kurt laughed and kissed him. “Trade me places.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They showered and dressed casually in shorts and t-shirts to go to the Hudson-Hummel cookout at lunchtime. Kurt pulled a book off of Dave’s shelf.

“Pick one of mine, or whatever you want, and let’s go lie out in the hammock and read for a while.”

“I have a better idea.”

“Oh, really? Do tell.”

“Well, you can pick any location, but I want to talk. I’ve missed talking with you so much. I knew I liked talking with you, but I never realized how much I would miss it until you weren’t allowed to talk.”

Kurt kissed him. “I missed talking to you too. Before you were part of my life I spent most of my life silent like that, except for singing, which I really missed. I love you and I love talking to you. I figured out what was making me so exhausted. I looked up the side effects of that antibiotic they had me on and fatigue was on the list. I looked up the inhaler and that’s one of the less common side effects, but I’m guessing it was the combination of the two of those things that was doing it. I was less tired Saturday and I felt a lot better yesterday. And today I just feel fine.”

“I saw fine a little earlier.” He kissed Kurt.

Kurt jumped up and wrapped his legs around Dave’s waist and Dave caught him.

“You’re crazy. You’re not that much shorter than me now. What makes you think you can still do this without breaking my back?”

“You’re big and strong and you can bench press and dead lift a lot more than I weigh.” Kurt kissed him again.

Dave turned and carried Kurt toward the bed and leaned forward and Kurt let go and plopped onto his back. Dave climbed over the top of him and kissed him again.

Kurt teased him. “I thought you wanted to talk…”

“I do, but you jumped me.”

“Mmm. Hmm.” Kurt ran his hand down Dave’s arms. “So handsome.” He raised up onto his elbows and kissed Dave again. “What do you want to talk about?” He continued to run his fingers along Dave’s upper arms.

“Umm,” Dave stuttered.

“Yeah?” Kurt moved his hands up and pulled Dave down gently. He kissed his neck up towards his ear. “Cat got your tongue?”

“Yeah, a minx. A sexy minx.” He gently pushed Kurt back down flat on the bed and started kissing him. He licked at Kurt’s lower lip and deepened the kiss. “You are so sexy,” he said when they slowed down for air. “I really do want to talk though.”

“Okay. I won’t keep teasing you. We already got dressed. I’ll be good.”

“Alright. Then, turn on your side and face the middle so we can talk.”

Kurt slid to his side of the bed and did as Dave had asked. “What do you want to talk about?”

Dave put his hand on Kurt’s hip and slipped his thumb up under the edge of Kurt’s t-shirt and ran his thumb across the soft skin. “New York.”

“Good topic.”

They planned and talked until it was time to leave.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt took the chopped salad, coleslaw, and cake he had brought into the kitchen. Dave had gone through the kitchen already and was outside putting the chicken and veggie skewers they brought with them on the grill.”

“Hey, Kurt. It’s good to see you,” Carole said. “I’m glad you were able to make it.”

“How long will it be until we eat?”

“I think about 20 minutes.”

He opened the refrigerator and put the two containers inside. “Do you need help with anything?” he asked as he took the cake into the dining room and put it on the table.

“Not really. I have the warm food in the oven. The rest of the stuff is on the table already.”

“Is anyone else coming?”

“Oh, my sister and brother-in-law and their kids are already here. They’re out back with Burt and Finn.”

“Okay. I’m going to go out back since you said you don’t need me for anything.” Kurt went through the dining room and out onto the patio. He found Dave tending the grill. Burt and Carole’s brother-in-law were standing off to the side talking about football.

“Hey, Kurt!”

“Yeah, Dad?”

“Come meet Phil.”

Kurt did as Burt had asked.

“This is my son, Kurt. He’s the kicker for McKinley. Won MVP last season.”

“That’s impressive,” Phil said. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks. It’s nice to meet you.” He went back over to the grill.

Dave said, “I turned the heat down a bit. Let’s go swing. I saw that someone put your swing out.”

They walked to the back of the yard and climbed into the hanging swing. It was sort of like a cross between a porch swing and a hammock. They got comfortable with Dave’s arm around Kurt’s shoulders. Kurt pushed up enough to kiss Dave gently and then rested his head on Dave’s chest. Dave was humming, but Kurt barely heard two kids talking.

“That’s gross!”

“Boys shouldn’t kiss boys.”

Kurt stayed where he was because he didn’t want them to know he had heard them. He could tell that Dave hadn’t. He waited for them to come out from behind the tree. They appeared to be between 12 and 14. Once they were closer to the house, Kurt spoke quietly so he wouldn’t startle Dave, who had closed his eyes and tipped his head back. “Sweetie, I don’t feel good. I want to go back home.”

“Is your throat bothering you? Did what we did earlier hurt you?”

“No, no. Nothing like that. I just don’t feel good. I’m going to go tell Dad that we’re leaving. We’ll just leave everything. I can come back for the containers some other time. Or Dad can just bring them to the shop tomorrow.”

“Alright. I’ll just go out through the gate and wait for you in my truck.”

Kurt nodded. He walked up to where Burt was, but he was busy talking to Phil still, and they were manning the grill. Kurt walked past them and into the house. He found Carole puttering around in the kitchen talking to her sister.

“Oh, Kurt, this is my sister, Velma.”

Kurt nodded. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too.”

Kurt continued to walk through like he was headed toward the bathroom, but he turned left when he entered the foyer instead. He went out the front door silently. Once he was in the truck, he texted Burt and told him that he didn’t want to interrupt his conversation, but that he wasn’t feeling well and that he and Dave had left.

Dave pulled out of the driveway and drove out of the neighborhood, but he didn’t turn to go home. Instead, he drove to the diner had had taken Kurt to right after they started dating. He pulled into the lot and got out. Kurt followed him.

Once they were seated, Dave asked, “What was that about? Clearly you feel fine.”

“Physically I feel fine. I still feel sick.”

“I’m lost.”

“While you were humming and resting your eyes, I over heard Finn’s teenage cousins making disparaging remarks about us kissing.”

“Oh. Finn’s uncle is a homophobe and has brought his boys up that way.”

“That would be my guess.”

Before they even got to place their orders, Kurt’s phone rang.

“Hey, Dad.”

“I got the text. You looked fine. Why did you leave?”

“I’ll just tell you the truth. Finn’s cousins are homophobes. They were back by the big tree. Dave and I sat in the swing. I kissed him, just a peck really and then I curled up next to him. They made derogatory remarks and I’m not going to sit through a meal with two homophobes, two potential homophobes, and Finn. We can come back when they leave, if you want.”

“Kurt, Phil isn’t a homophobe. I had already told him that you and your boyfriend were coming. He didn’t seem one bit upset about it.”

“Maybe he’s just good at hiding it.”

“I’m going to get him alone and ask him point blank. I’ll call you back.”

Kurt got up and went outside. Dave let the waitress know that they had an unexpected call and they had to go. He went outside and opened the truck doors and they got inside.

Kurt answered when he phone rang the second time.

“Yeah?”

“Well, I have a good idea where Finn’s dislike of gay guys came from.”

“If you want us to come over when they leave, call me and let me know. We’re getting ready to go back inside and eat.”

“No, you come home. I’m going to ask them to leave.”

“No thanks, Dad. Just let them stay. I don’t know how far they drove, but Carole probably doesn’t get to see them that often. We’ll just come by for dinner later.” Kurt disconnected the call. He turned to Dave. “I’m not even really hungry anymore, but I’ll sit with you if you want to eat here.”

“Let’s just go get two slices of chocolate cream pie, and then go home, lie out in the hammock, and snuggle after we eat them.”

“Sounds perfect.”


	21. Chapter 21

They had the house to themselves when they got home because Paul had gone with Judy and Quinn to Frannie’s place for a cookout. They sat out on the patio and fed each other the slices of chocolate cream pie they had brought back with them from the diner.

Kurt managed to put Dave’s last bite in his mouth in a way that smeared the whipped cream onto his lips. He teased, “Oops. Let me get that for you.” He leaned forward and licked Dave’s lips and leaned back smiling. “I missed some.” He scooted closer and licked him again and moved to sit in Dave’s lap and started kissing him.

Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt. “Did you get it all?”

“Not yet,” Kurt teased and pressed into the kiss. He ran his hand through the back of Dave’s hair the way he liked, causing Dave to moan. “Let’s go inside for a little bit before we lie out in the hammock.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

A half-hour later, they were lying in the hammock with Kurt curled around Dave.

Dave asked, “Are you looking forward to our attempt to get new people to join Glee tomorrow?”

“I’m not going to sing. I’ll still just lip sync since I’ve not been practicing. I’m not sure whether it is a good idea or not. It’s always seemed like everyone enjoys it when we perform, but then they realize that they weren’t supposed to enjoy it and they go back to acting like were not cool. But maybe since there are so many football players and cheerleaders in the group, and the hockey team doesn’t have the bullies it used to have, maybe someone will be interested. We only need a couple of people. Girls mostly.”

“I’m kind of nervous about it. Yeah, I joined last year, but I joined after the assembly when you all sang. I’ve never actually sung in front of the students at school. I’m not really afraid of being teased for doing it, but I’m more afraid that I’ll mess up and be teased for that.”

“It is a different feeling performing in front of people you know and strangers. Strangers aren’t likely to remember the mistakes someone they don’t know made, whereas the other students are more prone to mocking us already. Messing up in front of them provides them with real reasons to mock us. But I think we’ll be fine. I won’t mock you. I won’t even tease you if you mess up. I’m just glad you joined. It’s fun having you to sing with.”

“I would have never joined if it hadn’t been for wanting to spend more time with you.”

Kurt moved enough to kiss Dave on the neck. “I love you and I’m glad I can finally say it again.”

“Your throat isn’t bothering you is it?”

“Nope. All I can say is that I hope I never have any need to take those two medications at the same time ever again. I have never felt so completely exhausted. Like I had done something to make myself really tired, but I wasn’t sleepy. No thanks.”

“I’m glad you’re better and that you can talk again too. I think that’s my hobby now.”

“Talking to me?”

“Yep. I talk to you more than I play video games now.”

“Does that bother you?”

“Not at all. You’re more interesting.”

Kurt rolled his eyes.

“What did I say about that?”

“What?”

“Rolling your eyes and deflecting my sincere statements.”

“Oh, you’re right. I’m sorry. I just don’t feel like I could be that interesting.”

“That’s because you get to be with yourself all the time.”

Kurt tickled Dave. “You’re with me most of the time. Have you decided what departments you want to visit when we go to New York?”

“Not really. I need to focus on that and figure it out.”

“You’ve got two weeks.”

“I know. I’ll work on it. I’ll come home instead of going to skate this week. I’ll still skate on Saturday. This is important to figure out.”

“Okay. So, I was thinking.”

“Mmm hmm.” Dave kissed him on the top of the head. “You do that a lot.”

“So, why didn’t James Potter just turn himself into a stag and impale Valdemort when he came to kill Harry?”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Just when they had gotten into a conversation about why first-year muggleborns and those who hadn’t lived with magic didn’t have to take a course on magical things like how flue powder worked, Kurt’s phone rang.

“Oh, hey, Dad.”

“They’re gone. Will you come back now?”

“Sure. We’ll leave in just a few minutes.”

Kurt got out of the hammock and waited for Dave to come around. Just as Dave started to walk around him, Kurt put his hands on his shoulders and jumped up for a piggyback ride.

Dave reached back and caught Kurt under his knees and kept walking. “Aren’t you getting too big for that?” Dave teased.

“Nope.” He leaned around and kissed him on the temple.

Dave let him down when they got to the patio door. “We didn’t put the hammock away. I’m going to go grab it.”

Kurt waited for him to come back through the door and blocked him when he got back. “Password?”

“Um.” He kissed Kurt, with no results other than being kissed back. Or so he thought until they broke apart and Kurt stepped back to let him in.

Dave took the hammock and put it in the garage. Kurt followed right on his heels, ridiculously close. Dave barely had room to turn around once he had hung the hammock on the hook. Kurt let him step away from the wall toward his truck, but once he was almost close enough to open the door, Kurt leaned in and pushed him up against the truck door and kissed the back of his neck and ran his hands of Dave’s side and then put one on each side of Dave’s head and pushed back enough to give Dave room to turn around and face him.

As soon as he turned, Kurt leaned back up against him and kissed him, almost possessively. When they broke apart for air, Kurt ran his hand down the side of Dave’s face and then kissed him gently. “I love you and whatever gets said when we’re there, if it’s not positive and supportive, I want to leave. I’m not going to listen to anything negative.” He kissed him once again before he stepped back and went around to get in the truck.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave and Kurt waited for Burt to answer the door and they followed him into the dining room. The chicken kabobs they had brought with them were on a plate and the chopped salad and coleslaw they had brought were sitting out. Burt and Carole sat down at the table with them. Dave and Kurt served themselves some of the food and started to eat.

Carole spoke first. “I didn’t know that Phil was teaching the boys those things. I had no idea that he was homophobic, but it does explain a lot. Since he displays this weird combination that being gay is fine as long as he doesn’t have to be involved with anyone gay, it does explain Finn’s insistence that he isn’t homophobic while viewing everything that is gay as wrong. Once they left, I sat Finn down. He said that when he’s spent time with Phil when Velma wasn’t around, Phil used the word ‘faggy’ to refer to anything even remotely feminine that a guy would do. Guys dancing was faggy. We’ll not all types of dance, but you know what I’m getting at. Anyway, I had no idea. Velma isn’t homophobic and she’s not too thrilled to find out what Phil’s been teaching the boys, including Finn, all these years. I honestly had no idea there would be any issues today.”

Kurt just nodded. “So, that’s where the it’s okay for Dave to be gay, but why can’t I just be more manly about it comes from, I guess. And Finn’s questioning Dave about why he would pick a girly guy like me if he’s going to like guys.”

“It could be, but I think that’s more likely Finn’s own thoughts. After he did that research and was finally convinced that it wasn’t a choice, I think his mind moved from there to attraction. That if a guy likes guys, then guys would like the manliest of men. I think Phil is a chameleon. I think if Burt had made any anti-gay comments that Phil would have jumped in with his own anti-gay opinions, but when Burt said that you and Dave were coming, he pretended to be okay with it. I think he’s probably taught the boys to do the same.”

“That makes sense. I overheard them speaking quietly to each other. They didn’t say anything to our faces.”

Burt changed the subject. “Do you have everything for your trip to New York planned out?”

“Not yet,” Dave answered. “We’re working on it still. We’re trying to get college visits and some sightseeing worked in.”

“That’s good. You’re still doing that camping trip, right?”

“Yeah. I thought there was a dad’s meeting already.”

“Not that I know of.”

“I’m pretty sure it was Saturday morning.”

“I’ll have to call Paul.”

“It’s weekend after next, like I already told you.”

“I already marked it, but then I hadn’t heard anything.”

Kurt and Dave had finished eating and neither one of them said anything for a few minutes. Eventually Kurt pushed his chair back a little.

“Did the cake get eaten?”

“Actually, it’s in the kitchen,” Carole said. “When you left, I just moved it to the top of the fridge.”

“Alright.” He used his knife to push the chicken and vegetables off the remaining skewers into the bowl that had the chopped salad into it and put the empty skewers on his plate. He got up and took the two bowls back to the kitchen to look for the lids. When he found them, he put them on.

He went back into the dining room and collected his dishes and reached for Dave’s, but he shook his head and stood up and took his own back to the kitchen. Dave stood there not knowing what to do. Kurt went back into the dining room.

“Did you have something else you wanted us to do besides eat?”

Burt answered, “Not particularly.”

“Well, then I guess I’ll see you at work tomorrow. You can call Paul about the campout details.”

By then Dave had walked up behind Kurt. He waved over Kurt’s shoulder. “See ya.” He turned and Kurt followed him.

Kurt handed Dave the two bowls, and then he reached up and grabbed the cake carrier off the top of the fridge and they took everything back out to the truck and headed home.

“That was weird,” Dave said. “I’m not trying to be judgmental, but I don’t understand the point in having us back over if we were just going to eat what we had brought with us and then bring the leftovers home with us. Did Carole decide that our gay food was contaminated or something?”

“Honestly, I’m guessing that Dad just said to put the kabobs away not realizing that we brought them to share and maybe Carole’s family members are anti-vegetable like Finn. I don’t know. It was weird, though. I thought maybe he wanted us to watch a movie with them or even play board games like we did when we first tried having family dinners. I guess it doesn’t matter. I’m done trying to figure any of it out. He and I get along fine. We came to the agreement that he was going to treat me like an adult and let me make my own choices. I made my choice. I’m living with you. He doesn’t hassle me and I don’t hassle him. He has Carole to look after him now and he doesn’t need me for that anymore. It was going to happen eventually anyway. It’s just a little earlier than I had expected. I’m not angry, but I do have to wonder what the point in having us over is.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “I’m just trying to keep up my end of the deal.”

“I think maybe it just seems so weird because he was so different a year ago.” Dave turned and headed towards Wal-Mart instead of home.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

“Okay.”

Dave reached out for Kurt’s hand and squeezed it. He let go and put his hand back on the steering wheel.

Kurt resumed what he had been talking about. “I wasn’t going to be here that much longer anyway, and to be honest, he and I didn’t spend that much time together other than at the shop once I started working in the work bays. And even then, he’s the boss, so he was busy all the time. We ate dinner together because I cooked for him. I guess we did go shopping together since I couldn’t drive. And he’d drive me places to get stuff I needed for projects. I’d ride out to junkyards and different places to pick up parts. But most of the time, we’d just listen to 80’s music from a classics station while we were in his truck. He always just went along with whatever I wanted. He’d attend my tea parties. He taught me to ride a bike. He got me the sewing lessons I wanted. He’d buy me the fabric and stuff I needed. He took me out places and wait for me while I shopped. He did his best. He took me fishing and camping and taught me to do the things a dad would teach a son. And I enjoyed doing most of that stuff with him. I never felt like he was anything besides a great dad. I never really thought about how other kids’ lives were at home because I had nothing to base those thoughts on other than TV shows. And honestly, most kids’ TV shows show parents in less than a positive light or don’t really show the parents at all. Cinderella’s dad dies and she lives with a wicked stepmother. Snow White’s stepmother tries to have her killed. And I never spent any time at anyone else’s house. My dad and I got along. We didn’t fight. I never got into trouble. He never yelled at me or punished me for anything. He really did just treat me like an equal a lot of the time as far as not talking down to me or giving me childish answers to my questions. So, I still see him at work and I do miss eating dinner with him sometimes, but as I got more into fashion and the only thing we had left in common was working on cars, there was less and less to say to each other. And it’s not like the writing wasn’t on the wall. I know that he’ll be proud of me if I work hard and achieve whatever goals I set for myself, but nothing is going to make him excited about the things I love. But he loves me and he does come to see me perform, so there’s not really much more than I can ask for. A lot of teens don’t even have that. I learned that last fall when I actually started spending time with other people my age.”

Dave turned off the street.

“Wal-Mart?”

“Yep.” He pulled into the first spot he found and parked. He waited for Kurt to come around the end of the truck and took his hand and interlaced their fingers. “I know it has to be quick because we have food that can spoil in the truck.” He led Kurt to the movie section. “Let’s find something we’ve never seen before.”

They looked through the new release section.

“I’ve never seen this.” Kurt held up _Crack-Up_. “It’s a mystery. Art forgery and murder. What do you think?”

“Sounds perfect. Let’s pay for it and go. We can go home and eat cake and watch it.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They had just started the movie when Paul came in. Dave pressed pause when he heard the front door shut. He called out, “We’re in the den if you want to watch this movie with us.”

Paul stepped into the den. “Ooh. Cake. That looks good.”

Kurt said, “There’s plenty. It’s in the kitchen. Long story that I don’t feel like telling. We got this 1940’s murder mystery movie. You can watch it with us.”

“Sure. Let me grab some cake first though.” Paul left and came back a couple of minutes later with a slice of cake and sat down in the recliner closest to the door. “Ready.”

Dave hit the menu button and started the movie over. About a half-hour into the movie, Paul’s phone rang. He looked at it and ignored it, and then he sent a text. Dave hit pause.

“Do you need to talk to whoever it was?”

“It’s fine. I texted him and told him I’m busy right now and I’ll call him back later.”

Dave turned the movie back on and wrapped his arm back around Kurt, who snuggled into Dave’s side and relaxed.

When the movie was over, Paul asked, “Did you rent that or buy it?”

“I bought it,” Dave answered.

“Oh, good. Can you leave it down here? I want to watch it again with Judy. I think she’ll really like it.”

“Sure.” He put the DVD in the case and put it on the TV stand. “We’re going to head up. We have to pack our stuff for school tomorrow. We’re singing outside at lunch tomorrow.”

“Sounds fun. If someone records it, I want to see it.”

“Sure,” Dave said as he and Kurt walked out.

“Hey, Kurt?”

They stopped.

“Yeah?”

“It’s nice to hear your voice again. I’m glad you’re better.”

Kurt smiled and nodded.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Paul pulled his phone back out and called Burt.

“Hey, Paul.”

“Burt.”

“I asked Kurt about the campout and he said it was still on and that he thought the dad’s meeting was Saturday morning.”

“It was.”

“Why wasn’t I notified of the meeting?”

“Honestly – because I think you’re doing a crappy job of being a father and I was aggravated with you when I sent out the email about the meeting time and location. We’re going camping weekend after next, just like we had planned. Same location, same set up as last year. Finn and Kurt will technically be assigned to you. Puck and Dave will be assigned to me. I’m not going to say anything to anyone about where Kurt lives. I have no idea if anyone on the team knows that he doesn’t live with you anymore. I don’t know if Finn has said anything about it to anyone. Obviously, Puck knows. I’m assuming Finn has had people over since he’s moved in. I don’t know how to handle it other than to just pretend like it doesn’t exist, which is what Kurt seems to be doing. He’s not even mad at you. I don’t get it. But whatever. He’s happy here and that’s what matters I guess. I’m still good with him being here. I’m just surprised that you still are. But it’s your life, your choice. You’ll need whatever you brought last year. Kurt and Dave will be in charge like they were last year.”

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. He made his choice and left.”

“You made a choice. When you let Carole and Finn stay rather than trying to find them another place, you chose them over Kurt. That’s just the truth of it. You could have had an addition put on or looked for a house with three bedrooms. You have two incomes. The mortgage on a decent 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom house in this town wouldn’t be more than $500 a month and that’s with no down payment. I don’t see how Carole was renting that house she was in for less than that. Your reasons don’t make any sense. You figured out Kurt was serious when he took his stuff and left. If you thought holding out on moving was going to break him, you were obviously wrong. Anyway, I wasn’t feeling like you were being much of an example of a good dad lately and so I didn’t include you as part of the leadership this time. You can come and be part of the group like the rest of the dads were last year, but Azimio’s dad is my assistant this year.”

“Okay, then. I’ll show up with my tent and do whatever I’ve been assigned to do.”

“Then, I’ll see you in a little less than two weeks.” Paul ended the call.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Tuesday everyone wore their New York City outfits to school to try to get some attention before lunch. They met to run through the song once before they went out to the courtyard. The musicians set up outside while they sang along to a recording in the choir rom. They went outside and took their places. Mike cued the musicians to start and the group came into the courtyard from different directions with the lead being traded around the group.

They met up on the stairs and the girls and guys split up doing choreography while continuing to sing. All of them tried to look out over the crowd to see if anyone seemed to be paying close attention or looked interested. They finished the song in a group posed on the steps.

Once they were done, they grabbed their lunches and ate before lunchtime ended. They went back outside and sat together hoping that maybe someone interested in would walk up and talk to one of them, but no one did.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Thursday during third period, all of the guys got texts from Finn to meet in the choir room during the last 20 minutes of lunch. The guys all got there and Finn came in with Sam. He introduced himself and Finn got him to sing for them. He did a great job on “Billionaire” and Finn convinced him to come back that afternoon and sing for the whole group.

That afternoon, Mr. Schue said, “I’d like you to welcome our new member, Sam Evans.”

Sam nearly jogged into the room and stopped next to Mr. Schue. “I’m Sam. Sam, I am. And I do not like green eggs and ham.”

Santana snarked, “He has no game.”

Finn jumped up. “Okay, this is going to be great! You’re not going to regret joining, Sam.” He ushered Sam to sit next to him.

“Alright! Question for the group.” Mr. Schue turned to the white board. “What’s a duet?”

Brittany answered first, “A blanket.”

Mr. Schue ignored her and answered the question himself. “A duet is when two voices join together to become one. Great duets are like a great marriage. The singers complement each other, push each other to be better.”

While Mr. Schuester continued to talk, Kurt leaned over and whispered to Mercedes. “He’s on Team Gay. No straight boy dies his hair to look like Linda Evangelista circa 1993.”

“You’re crazy circa 2010,” she replied, rolling her eyes.

Mr. Schue finished, “And that’s what duets are all about. So, this week I want you all to pair up and since you all seemed to love our “Defying Gravity” Diva-off, I’m making this a competition.”

Mike asked, “What does the winner get?”

“Dinner for two, on me, at … Breadstix!”

The room broke out in excitement.

Mr. Schue calmed them back down. “When I call your name, come down and choose a name out of this box.”

“Rachel. Kurt. Tina. Quinn. Mercedes. Santana. Brittany.”

They lined up and took a name and sat back down. Kurt opened his and it had Sam’s name on it.

“I’m going to dismiss you early and let you find your partner and get working. You’ll need to be ready to sing the first week in October. I know that’s a few weeks from now, but I want you to work hard on this and wow everyone.”

Kurt moved to sit next to Sam. He saw Brittany move to sit in the chair he had been sitting in. Quinn sat with Mike. Rachel sat with Finn. Mercedes sat with Puck. Tina didn’t move from her place next to Artie. Santana sat with Azimio.

Kurt extended his hand. “Hi. I’m Kurt Hummel.”

“Sam Evans.” He shook Kurt’s hand.

“Yeah, I got that when you introduced yourself.”

“Well, I already knew your name too, so I figured I’d be polite like you were being. You are on the football team, you know?” Sam teased him.  “You weren’t here when I came at lunch to sing for the guys. Neither was Dave. I saw you two singing with everyone at lunch the other day, though.”

Kurt got up and Sam followed him out to the hallway.

“We weren’t here because no one said to come.” He shrugged. “Do you need to go to your locker before you leave?”

Sam nodded and started walking toward his locker.

“Aren’t duets supposed to be between a guy and a girl?”

“Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor would protest.”

Sam gave him a blank look.

“’Make ‘em Laugh.’”

Still no response.

“ _Singing in the Rain_. 1952.”

“Okay, nothing. Maybe you are straight.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Rent it, and then call me.“ He handed Sam his phone number on a slip of paper. He turned to go back to the choir room to find Dave.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt did his homework as quickly as possible, so he could spend the rest of the afternoon working on finding a suitable song. He sent Sam a bunch of .mp3 files of him singing and a final email with a list of non-romantic duets with links to YouTube so that Sam could listen to them. Dave did his homework and did more reading about the different things he could study in college, like he said he would.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When Kurt got to school the next morning, Finn was waiting by his locker.

“Don’t do this to Sam.”

“What do you mean?”

“Trade with someone. He’s new. Let him sing with one of the girls. Don’t make everyone think he’s gay.” He walked away.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt found Mike before classes started. “Hey, Mike!”

Mike turned around and stepped toward the lockers to get out of the way. “I have an idea for a number I want to do for the duets competition, but I need you to do it with me. Will you trade with Sam and let him sing with Quinn?”

“Do I have to sing if I switch? I really don’t want to sing.”

“No. I want you to help me choreograph my song. I’m going to get some of the Cheerios if I can. I’ll ask Quinn to switch too, so you don’t have to. Can you meet me in the auditorium about 15 minutes into lunch?”

“Sure. I’d much rather dance than sing where everyone can hear me.”

Kurt left to talk to as many Cheerios as he could find before first period started. He stopped and talked to Quinn before he sat down. She agreed to the switch.

That afternoon, Coach Beiste kept Sam back after practice. Kurt went back into the locker room after everyone else had left except Sam. Kurt walked up to the shower stall where Sam was showering. He stood in front of the door and said his name.

Sam looked up confused when he heard Kurt’s voice. “This is kind weird. Guys don’t usually talk in here.”

“Well, this can’t wait. I’m setting you free. You can do your duet with Quinn, who the world deems more appropriate.”

“Did I do something to offend you?”

“No. It’s not you. It’s me. You’ve been honorable actually. And I wish you the best. Quinn has a beautiful voice. I’ll text you Quinn’s number in just a minute.” Before he walked away, he said, “You know they make special shampoo for color treated hair.”

“I don’t dye my hair.”

“Uh huh,” Kurt said as he walked away.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt and Dave were barely home long enough to eat dinner before they had to be back up at the school to leave on the bus for the game. They won again. On the bus ride back, Kurt texted Sam and invited him over after the game.

They went directly to the kitchen when the got there. Kurt never ate much before they played, and was always hungry afterwards. “Would you like some cake?” Kurt offered.

“No thanks. I don’t really eat junk food.”

“How about a salad then?”

“Sure.”

Kurt pulled out some vegetables and started chopping. Dave sat down at the island and Sam followed his lead.

“You don’t have to go to a bunch of trouble just for me.”

“Oh, I’m making enough for all of us. I’m just not used to having people over that would choose salad over cake. If you remember, the first Monday I brought cookies, Azimio said I make cakes. People who come over usually expect cake.”

“So, you ditched me to sing with Mike and from what Quinn said, Mike doesn’t even usually sing or if he does it’s so quiet that no one can hear him. I don’t get it.”

“First, do you dislike any of those vegetables?” He pointed to the counter near the sink.”

Sam shook his head. “They’re all fine.”

“Look, you’re new. That’s why I invited you over. I had you park in the garage so that no one would know you’re here. I’m giving you the chance to know something about me and Dave before you decide whether you want to have anything to do with us publicly.”

Kurt moved over to the counter to wash and chop while he talked. He was facing away from them, which made it a little easier for him to tell Sam what had happened his first two years of high school. He grabbed a large bowl and put everything in it and stepped over to the island. He grabbed the salad serving sporks and tossed the salad.

Dave got up, made some vinaigrette dressing, and grabbed three bowls and forks.

Kurt asked, “Would you like shredded cheese on yours? I think … yes. We have some shredded chicken too.”

“Sure.”

Dave grabbed the cheese and they each put some on their salads. They passed the chicken and dressing around. Kurt took his bowl to the dining table and went back into the kitchen and filled three glasses with water. Dave grabbed one of them and took it back to the table.

“Thanks,” Sam said.

“You’re welcome,” Kurt said. “I just want you to make your own decision about who you want to associate with. You joined the Glee Club, but that doesn’t mean that we have to hang out together. I’ll get it if you’d rather not. Mercedes, Tina, Artie, and Azimio hang out with us fairly often. Quinn is with us a lot of the time. She’s like a sister to us. Her mom, Judy, is dating Dave’s day, Paul. She’s here a lot of the time. Puck lives here part time. That’s a long story that’s not mine to tell.”

Sam thought about what Kurt had said. “So, that means you don’t hang out with Mike, Finn, Santana, or Brittany?”

“Actually we do hang out with Santana and Brittany, usually at Brittany’s house. We went there a lot this summer. She has an in-ground pool. Mike plays video games online with Dave and the other guys. This isn’t gossip or anything. Everyone knows. His parents are fairly strict about letting him go places. He spends most of his time at home.”

“Okay, so Mike doesn’t really hang out with anyone. So, it’s just Finn and … Rachel that you don’t hang out with.”

“Yes, her name is Rachel. And I never really thought about it, but you’re right.”

Sam looked like he was trying to solve a puzzle. “Finn was the one who encouraged me to join, but then acted weird when I was going to sing with you and tried to convince me to find someone else to sing with yesterday when we were in the locker room after the extra practice that Coach Beiste had a few of us come in for after Glee. And then you wait for me today after practice to tell me that Quinn is willing to switch with you and sing with me instead.”

“I didn’t know that Finn had tried to persuade you to sing with someone else, but I’m can’t say that I’m surprised. He not a member of the Kurt Hummel Fan Club.” Kurt rolled his eyes.

“Whatever. You seem like a cool dude to me. And if you think I might be bothered that you’re gay, I’m not. I told him that you sent me a bunch of mp3s and that you’re really good and that I gave you my word and that was that. I wasn’t planning on backing down because he was being a bully about it.”

“Good to know. I’m sorry about what I said in the hall.”

“About me being straight?”

“Yeah. When you came in I made a comment under my breath to Mercedes that no straight boy would dye his hair blond. That was uncalled for on my part. I’m not going to ask you anything about that. But you can give up the charade around me about your hair color. You can pretend all you want, but I know that’s not natural. I won’t tease you about it anymore though. You have the right to dye your hair any color you want without people hassling you about it.”

“It’s fine. It’s not actually hair dye, but it’s not my natural color, so we’ll just leave it at that. We’re both right. I did it and had my hair cut this way because I thought maybe it would give me a cool, surfer dude vibe. Coming into high school halfway through is hard. So, who is dating who?”

“Tina and Artie. Azimio and Mercedes. Me and Dave.”

“Not Finn and Rachel?”

“Not that I’m aware of. She was dating a guy named Jesse. To my knowledge, they’re still seeing each other. I could be wrong though. You’re coming to the campout, right?”

“Oh, yeah. My dad’s coming too.”

“Cool. Be sure to bring some stuff you like to eat because the rest of the guys will mostly bring junk food.”

“I already packed up fruit and my mom said she would cut up a bunch of vegetables and put them in ziptop bags since I had a game tonight and didn’t have time to prep a lot of stuff. You didn’t mention Quinn dating anyone.”

“She’s not. She’s got a long story that’s hers to tell as well. But the part everyone in Glee already knows is that she got pregnant right after freshman year ended. She spent most of last school year in Columbus. The baby was born in March and she put it up for adoption. She finished out the school year early and came back here in April.”

“I would not have expected that. She’s so thin.”

“She worked hard to get back into shape. She’s my ballet partner.” Kurt pulled his phone out and pressed play for Sam to watch the video from the recital.

“Wow, you’re both really good.” Sam gave the phone back.

“Thanks. So, since we weren’t invited to the Sam Evans meet-and-greet yesterday at lunch, tell us something about yourself.”

“I’m 17. My birthday is in May. I’m dyslexic. We moved here from Tennessee about a month ago. I went to an all-boys school the last two years. I’m straight. I’ve never dated anyone. Finn is going to be pissed when he finds out that Coach told me tonight after the game that she’s moving me to quarterback permanently. Let’s see. My parents are married. I have a little brother and sister, Stevie and Stacey. They’re 8 and in the third grade. I’m a big sci fi fan. I like comic books and super heroes. I play video games. Obviously you know that I sing. Oh, and I play the guitar.”

Dave said, “I’m an only child. My parents are divorced. I live with my dad. I don’t see my mother. She left a year ago when I came out. Like Kurt said, my dad is dating Quinn’s mom. I play football, but the sport I love to play is hockey, so I’m looking forward to hockey season.”

“So, your mom just left?”

“Yep. She signed away her parental rights, signed dissolution papers, and went back to Pittsburgh. To her, I’m dead. The end.”

“Wow, harsh.”

“So, I told you what went on at school. I don’t really talk about this, but everyone else knows, so I’ll tell you. My mom died when I was 8. My dad was single until about 6 months ago when he started dating Finn’s mom. I’m an only child as well. I’ve lived here in Lima my whole life, so has Dave, but we didn’t meet until freshman year. We didn’t go to the same elementary or middle school. We didn’t even actually meet personally until last year. So, that’s pretty much everything that’s common knowledge. Oh, except that I love old movies, fashion, and musical theater. Everyone knows those things about me. And I’m a mechanic, but I’m not sure that everyone knows that. Puck works at my dad’s shop too. He’s studying to be a mechanic. I’m training him.”

“How long have the two of you been together?”

“Nearly a year,” Dave said.

“That’s a long time.”

“I think the only thing you need is the tour since everyone else has been here before,” Kurt said. “Unless you don’t want a tour.”

“Sure, why not. That way when I come over again, I won’t look like a dork not knowing where anything is since everyone else already does.”

“Well, we’ll go back the way we came,” Kurt said.

Sam followed him through the door from the dining room into the studio, and Dave walked along behind Sam.

“This is our studio. Quinn and I practice in here. I play the piano. The guitar is Puck’s. We sing and goof around in here too.”

“This is really nice.”

“It used to be the living room that never got used, so we repainted and moved some of the furniture out and rearranged. Now, we use it a lot,” Dave said.

Kurt walked through the other door out into the entryway. That’s the den,” he pointed across the entryway. “You already saw the dining room and kitchen. Come on.” Kurt turned to the left toward the front door, and then went up the stairs.  When they got to the top, he said, “So, the master bedroom and two other bedrooms are on this floor.” Kurt pointed to the right. “That’s the master bedroom. Obviously, you can see that the room right in front of us is the bathroom. The room next to the bathroom is Quinn’s when she stays over, or if any or all of the other girls stay over. My sewing stuff is in there too. The room here on the left is Puck’s room when he’s here.   Up the stairs and to the right is the last bedroom. So, that’s pretty much the tour. Everyone stays out of the master bedroom.”

Kurt continued up the second flight of stairs. Dave and Sam followed along behind him.

“It’s a nice house. We have four bedrooms too. We had three before we moved. Stevie and Stacey shared before, but my parents decided that they were getting old enough to need their own rooms. Stacey still slips into Stevie’s room and sleeps with him half the time though. I think it’s too much change. They had chosen this pale aqua for their room the last time my mom painted it a few years ago and when we moved, Stacey said she wanted lavender. So, we painted her room lavender. They got her new furniture too. Stevie wanted the same wall color they had before. I think his room feels more like home because it’s the color she’s used to and the furniture they shared before is in his room now.”

“That makes sense. Moving is hard.” Kurt pulled the ottoman out away from the futon and sat down on it criss-cross and let the two of them sit down on the futon.

Dave said, “As you can see the TV with the gaming stuff is up here.” Dave pointed to his left. “There’s another bathroom through that door. You’re welcome to come hang out with us if you want, but we won’t pressure you.”

“I don’t need time to think about it. Whenever you’re having people over, let me know and I’ll see if I can come.”

“It probably won’t be for a couple of weeks. We have the campout this weekend and then next weekend we’re going to New York to look at colleges.”

“Already? Aren’t you two juniors like me?”

“Yeah. But Kurt’s already been scouted by Columbia, but he’s not really sure that he’s interested in playing football in college.”

Kurt nodded. “I need to go see some places for myself. I don’t want to sign an offer and regret my choice.”

“Wow, recruited last year?”

“Yeah. I did some research and from what I could find, college athletes spend nearly 40 hours a week on sports related activities. I want to go to college to learn, not to get noticed by the NFL. I want to be a performer not a professional football player. Working 40 hours a week and trying to keep up with the academic load at Columbia doesn’t sound like a good fit to me, but I can’t just turn down a full scholarship offer to such a prestigious school without giving it serious thought.”

“That makes sense.”

“I honestly think I’ll end up going to a smaller school because I want to focus on my studies, not on playing football.”

“I haven’t even really given college a thought. Being dyslexic makes everything about school a struggle. Even though I like history and a lot of books, reading takes so long. My last school had audio versions of the textbooks, but McKinley doesn’t. My mom is looking into it because I’m already not doing as well as I did in Tennessee.”

“Dave’s good at math and worked as a math tutor this summer. He’s in calculus this year. If you need help, he might be able to help you.”

“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Kurt’s phone alarm sounded. He said, “We need to get stuff ready for tomorrow, so I hate to ask you to leave, but since we have to go straight from Findlay to the campsite, we have to pack everything early tomorrow morning.”

“No problem. Thanks for the salad. And for telling me what you told me. It’s hard being the new kid in high school. A lot of people have known each other since kindergarten, or middle school. And even if they met in high school, they’ve still known each other for two years. It’s hard to try to figure out what everyone knows without coming off like I’m trying to stick my nose in everyone’s business.”

Dave stood up. Kurt got up and started to move the ottoman. Dave led Sam down to the garage. Kurt followed them down, but detoured into the kitchen to make sure all everything was ready to go.

“This is a really nice studio.” Sam said, as he looked a little more carefully as they walked through to get to the garage.

“We were excited when my dad let us convert it.”

“This is one of those nosy questions. Why would your dad let you convert a room in the house for Kurt and Quinn.”

“Kurt lives here.”

“For how long? Never mind. That’s none of my business.”

“It’s okay. I’m pretty sure that everyone in Glee knows. He’s lived here about 6 months, which two weeks less than Finn and his mom Carole have lived with Kurt’s dad, whose name is Burt.”

Sam raised his eyebrows, but said, “Okay.” instead of asking more questions. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow at the campsite, wherever that is. My GPS will tell me the way there.” He got in and backed out of the garage.

Dave waved before he pushed the button to close the garage door.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Quinn drove to Findlay separately Saturday morning since Dave and Kurt were headed to the campsite as soon as class ended. Kurt and Dave stopped and picked up a few things on the way to the campsite, but they got to there before everyone else. Paul showed up next. They set up the way they had the year before. The only difference was that Coach Beiste came when they had not invited Coach Tanaka the year before.

Kurt was most surprised that Artie showed up. His dad came as well. Kurt told them where to park and where to set up their tent. Puck was the last of the group to arrive. Kurt walked down to the parking area and started to help Mr. Abrams unload the van. Coach Beiste approached.

“Artie’s here because he wants to join the team. He hasn’t been at practice and it took me a while to think of what he might be able to do that was just keeping stats or something. So, my idea is that he could be wheeled out and he can catch the snap backs and he can be the placeholder when you kick field goals. But we have to see if it can work and I figured this weekend would be a good time to give it a try.”

“Okay, sure,” Kurt said. “Are you any good at catching, Artie?”

“I guess we’ll find out. If not, I’ll do the statistics or whatever. I just want to be part of the team. Everyone in Glee is on the team, except me.”

Coach Beiste nodded. “I’m willing to give it a shot. I don’t want to put you in excess danger, but you and your parents have to realize that football is a contact sport and there is inherent risk in being on the field at any point in time.”

“We know,” Mr. Abrams said. “But Artie’s 16. He needs to become an adult the way everyone else does, by making choices, good or bad, and this is one of them. If he hadn’t been injured when he was younger, he may very well have played anyway. Anyone can get hurt doing just about anything. If this is what he wants, we’ll see if there’s some way to make it work.”

Artie let his dad seat him in chair Kurt had never seen before. “Please don’t let the other guys rag me about this. It’s the only chair I have that can be pushed through dense grass and on trails. I know it looks like an oversized baby stroller, but the wheels are designed for this type of terrain and honestly I haven’t used it since I was like 12. No one invites me to go out to do outdoor stuff, so my parents never felt the need to invest in a more adult looking outdoor chair.”

“Alright.” Coach Beiste turned and yelled for Puck, who was just about to take the last of his stuff to the camping area.

He turned around and came back, “Yeah, Coach?”

“You get someone to help Mr. Abrams unload this stuff and help him set up their tent. I’m taking Abrams and Hummel here out to try some things out. Come out to the field with Evans.”

“Got it.” He turned to go find Sam.

“And Puckerman?”

“Yeah, Coach?”

“You tell the guys if they make fun of Abram’s off-road chair, they’ll run wind sprints until they drop. No exceptions. He needs to be able to move around out here and a wheelchair designed for flat surfaces won’t cut it.”

He nodded. “Whatever works, dude.” He took off to look for Sam.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Generally the placeholder kneels on one knee, but that’s not going to work. You’re going to have to try to find a way that you can sit and extend your arm out to the point it needs to be while keeping your body out of the way as much as possible so Hummel doesn’t accidentally kick you.”

“Got it.” Artie was sitting on his butt on the ground, trying to find a way to arrange himself. “How’s this?”

“Sure. Whatever works. The question is whether you can catch a snap back in that position.”

“Let’s see.”

Puck got into position much closer than he would be in a game, but he was trying to make it easy at first and not throw the ball so hard. Artie caught it. Puck moved farther away. Artie still caught it.

“Evans, you try it.”

Sam took the ball and stayed where Puck was and snapped it back. Artie missed. Puck grabbed the ball and threw it back to Sam to try again. Artie caught it the second time.

“Alright. You two back up and Hummel’s going to kick.” She showed Artie how to hold the ball and gave it to him. “Go for it.” She stepped back giving Kurt room to maneuver.

Kurt stepped back and kicked the ball to Puck. Puck caught it and threw it to Sam, who threw it back to Coach Beiste.

“Good. Again.”

They went through it several more times.

Coach Beiste motioned for Sam to come closer. “Alright. You snap it back. Abram’s going to catch it and Hummel will kick it out to Puckerman. Go!”

Artie struggled to get from the position that he caught the ball in to the position he needed to be in to hold the ball for Kurt to kick it. They tried quite a few times to no avail.

Coach Beiste said, “For now, Karofsky will keep his position as placeholder during the snap backs. We can‘t risk you and Hummel being tackled. But during practices, you can be the placeholder. You can keep working on being able to transfer the ball from the position it’s in when you catch it to where it needs to be for Hummel to kick it. If you ever get that motion down to a science, we’ll revisit you being the one to catch the snap backs and play in the games. Either way, you’re on the team. I’ll get you uniform and a jacket.”

Artie nodded. “I’ll work on it. Thanks for giving me a chance. I’d just like to be a part of the team for once. I’ve been on the sidelines my whole life.”

She nodded. “Hummel, help Abrams get back in his chair and let’s go eat.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The rest of Saturday and Sunday went smoothly with the guys playing pick up games of soccer and football, fishing, eating, getting help with their schoolwork, talking to the dads, and having a good time like they had the year before.

Kurt saw Artie getting people to snap back to him, trying to perfect the repositioning quickly enough for them not to get tackled.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt took cookies for the football team again and they were scarfed up as quickly as they usually were.

During rehearsal Monday afternoon, Kurt brought up the possibility of singing a Britney Spears song for the upcoming Homecoming assembly. Everyone in the group was enthusiastic about the idea, but Mr. Schue wouldn’t hear a word about it.

At the end of the rehearsal, everyone moved to the auditorium. Sunshine Corazon was waiting for them and she blew everyone away with her audition. She was utterly fantastic. Kurt was thrilled that they were getting another girl to join the group, and on top of that, she was an amazing singer. After she finished singing everyone clapped and cheered. Kurt noticed the completely fake smile on Rachel’s face.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Tuesday morning, Kurt and Mercedes were standing near the entrance closest to the choir room and talking before classes started. They saw Mr. Schue approach Sunshine with a rehearsal schedule, only to have it rebuffed and to hear Sunshine tell him that she was leaving McKinley to transfer to Carmel to be part of Vocal Adrenaline. Dustin Goolsby introduced himself by practically shoving his business card at Mr. Schuester. It was the last line that Sunshine said that Kurt caught clearly.

“I actually would have stayed here, but I think that Rachel would have made my life a living hell. I just didn’t trust her after she sent me to a crack house. Not cool. It was nice to meet you.”

After that Mr. Goolsby left with Sunshine.

Kurt pulled Mercedes into the choir room. “She has to go!”

“Get rid of Rachel? How?”

“I don’t know. There’s got to be some rule about sending potential members of the group to a crack house, right? Sunshine was amazing. I can only imagine the duets that two of you could have done. She’s an alto and she can do the riffs and runs you can do. Whitney with Mariah or Aretha?”

“I know, I know. She is really good and now she’s our competition because of Rachel.”

The warning bell rang.

Kurt took a deep breath. “We have to go to class.”

Kurt walked to his first period classroom and plopped down next to Dave right before the second bell rang.

Dave looked at him with his eyebrow raised.

Kurt shook his head. He turned to the back of his notebook where he had been writing when he wasn’t allowed to speak. “Sunshine is gone. Mr. Goolsby from Vocal Adrenaline took her to Carmel today. Mercedes and I saw it just a few minutes ago.”

Dave nodded in understanding. They turned their attention to their teacher.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

At lunch they all met in the choir room.

Kurt was the first to speak. “I make a motion that we remove Rachel from the group.”

“I second Kurt’s motion,” Mercedes said.

Mr. Schue walked in on them. “What’s going on in here?”

“We’re holding a Glee meeting to decide what to do about Rachel.”

“What do you mean?”

Kurt answered, “She shouldn’t be allowed to sing with us anymore.”

Mercedes piped up next. “She just sent a really talented singer directly to Vocal Adrenaline.”

Rachel started to say something. “I did it because I love everyone and I love Glee Club.

“No!” Kurt stood up.

Finn spoke up. “Rachel, stop. Just tell the truth. You didn’t do it because of your love for Glee Club. You did it because you love yourself more.”

“Fine. You’re right. I didn’t want anyone else hogging my spotlight. I love it too much to let it go that easy.”

Kurt interrupted her. “You’re a self-centered, egotistical, spoiled rotten brat who can’t deal with the fact that Sunshine might be better than you, so you sabotaged her. She could have gotten HURT. She’s tiny, Rachel – smaller than you. Would you want to go to the place you sent her by yourself? She’s not even familiar with this area. She went there ALONE! What if she had been beaten up or raped by some guys who were high?”

Mercedes said, “You need help, Rachel. More help than a group of teenagers can offer you. All those in favor of removing Rachel from New Directions say ‘aye’.”

“Ayes” came from all around the room.

“All those opposed say ‘nay’.”

No one said anything.

“Motion carried,” Mercedes said.

Kurt added, “When you get some real help, come back and talk to us. But for now, we’re done. What you did was inexcusable.”

Rachel left the room crying.

“Guys, that was really harsh,” Mr. Schue said.

“It’s what you should have done,” Mercedes said. “When you found out what she did, you should have removed her from the club.” She grabbed her bag and got up and left. Everyone else followed her lead and left the room, leaving Mr. Schue standing there alone.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When they met to rehearse that afternoon, Kurt brought up the topic of singing a Britney Spears song for the upcoming Homecoming assembly. Mr. Schue turned him down flat and wouldn’t listen to what he had to say and returned to his prepared lesson plan about contemporary adult music.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Thursday during the Glee Club meeting, Kurt brought up Britney Spears again.

Mr. Schue was adamant in denying Kurt’s request. “Guys, we’re not doing Britney, and that’s that.”

Kurt spoke up, “Mr. Schue, you’re letting your own personal issues get in the way of something that we are all telling you that we want to do. This club regularly pays tribute to pop culture. And Britney Spears IS pop culture! To suggest otherwise, is heretical.”

Mr. Schue turned on him. “Kurt, I’m done talking about this!”

“Geez! Let loose a little, would you?! Stop being so frickin’ uptight all the time!”

Mr. Schue’s tone turned dark. “Kurt, I’ll see you in the principal’s office.”

Kurt snatched up his bag and marched out into the hallway. He stopped about half way between the choir room and the front office and waited for Mr. Schuester.

“I told you to wait for me in the office.”

“I just want to make sure that’s what you actually want to do.”

“You were insubordinate.”

“You repeatedly show favoritism. If we walk into that office together, I will make sure that Principal Harrison knows about what Rachel did. Oh, and how you walked past me every day for a year while the Puckheads and Puck himself dumpster tossed me while Finn stood there and did nothing to stop it from happening. I’m pretty sure that my outburst asking you to stop being so uptight doesn’t come close to any of those things that you’ve allowed to happen with no repercussions for your FAVORITE students.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Nope. Not at all, but imagine the ire of my father and Coach Beiste when I’m forced to serve detention instead of going to football practice tomorrow and maybe get banned from playing in the game because of missing practice just because you don’t like it when your non-favorite students speak up in class.”

“Maybe I did overreact, but you can’t come back to Glee today.”

“Fine.” Kurt turned to head toward his locker. He grabbed what he needed and went out to Dave’s truck and rolled the windows down and did his homework while he waited.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave came out to the truck when rehearsal ended. “What happened? Do you have detention?”

“No. Nothing happened except that I pointed out that if we had to solve the problem in the principal’s office that I would be sure to mention Rachel sending Sunshine to a crack house and how he did nothing it and how he did nothing to stop the Puckheads and Puck from dumpster tossing me while Finn watched. I mean Figgins got canned over the doing nothing about the bullying, didn’t he? If the new administration finds out that a teacher did the same thing, I can’t imagine him keeping his job for very long.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, that’s over. I give up. I’m fed up with him right now. I want to think about New York. I think I’ve packed everything, but I want to go home and double-check because we have to have everything ready when we go to bed tonight. We need to come home from the game tomorrow night and go to sleep. We’re leaving for the airport at 4:00 in the morning. I’m SO excited.”

Dave scooted to the center of the seat and leaned toward Kurt and kissed him. “You’re adorable.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Paul, Judy, Dave, Kurt, and Quinn all made their way to the bus they were taking to their hotel.   A few minutes, later the bus wove its way in and out of traffic, heading toward Manhattan. They got off and secured their luggage in the hotel holding area, and headed back out into the City.

They stood on the sidewalk and surveyed the area. Skyscrapers could be seen all around. They were just two blocks from Central Park, and that’s where they headed first.

“It’s amazing,” Kurt said where only Dave could hear him. He squeezed Dave’s hand. “It’s really amazing.” They walked along the edge of the park down toward the American Museum of Natural History. When they were directly across the street from it, Kurt said, “I want to go look inside. Just for a few minutes. I know that we decided that it wasn’t something we were going to do this trip because it’s really a full-day place to visit, but let’s go look inside the lobby.”

“Sure, Fancy.”

He and Kurt had been walking about 10 feet back from the others, but they closed the distance.

Kurt said, “I want to just peek inside. We won’t stay long.”

Paul said, “We’ll all go look. I’m curious too. It really does look cool in the movie.”

They crossed the street and climbed the stairs. They stepped inside and were in awe. “I’m doubting my choice now,” Kurt said. “It’s so cool.”

Quinn said, “It really is.”

Kurt said, “I’m definitely putting this on my must-see list if I come here to college or if I get to come here again for a vacation. It’s huge though. We’d really would need all day to see everything, if we could even see it all in a day.” Kurt picked up one of the printed maps and put it in his satchel.

They followed Paul back outside and down the stairs. They walked to the subway entrance and took it toward the High Line. Once they were there, they walked around and enjoyed the view. When Paul, Judy, and Quinn had gotten about 10 feet ahead of them again, Kurt squeezed Dave’s hand. He turned to look at Kurt, who stepped toward him and surprised him by kissing him. It was a simple, chaste kiss, but it felt like so much more. Dave didn’t let go of Kurt’s hand, but he put his arm over Kurt’s head and wrapped it around Kurt’s waist and pulled him close. Kurt laughed and looked at him smiling all the way to his eyes. Dave pulled him closer and kissed him again, just a gentle kiss.

“I love you. It’s amazing to be here together,” Kurt said. “It’s been a whole year. A great year. A year ago, I was so alone. I wondered sometimes if would make it long enough to get out of Lima. And now I’m here in New York City where I’ve dreamed of being. If I don’t go to school here in the city because it’s too expensive, I hope I can find a school that’s close enough that I can take the train or something here on the weekends. Do you like it here?”

“It’s really different. It’s noisy and crowded, but it’s alive – full of energy. I think it would take time for me to get used to and I’d need to find some quiet somehow. I think we both will. We’re really used to being alone together. As much as I know you love to perform, you really recharge in the quiet. We can make it work. It might just take time to figure out how. We’ll have to be patient with each other.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Paul said, “I really enjoyed the trip out on the ferry. The Statue of Liberty is smaller than I had anticipated it being. The photos I’ve seen of it always give the feeling that it is much bigger. It was really cool to see it in person.” He used the keycard to open the hotel room. “Don’t forget you get free breakfast.”

“We’ll remember.”

“Promise me that you two will stay in this room until tomorrow morning unless the hotel catches on fire or something equally devastating happens and you have to evacuate.”

Kurt said, “We’ll stay in here. We’re fine. You know we’ve stayed in motels alone before.”

“I know, but this is New York City. And you’re not 18 yet.”

“We’ll stay, Dad. You better get going. Judy and Quinn are waiting on you downstairs.”

“I’ll be back tomorrow evening. Once it’s morning, you can go out and do the stuff on your list. You can tell me all about the show when I get back.” Paul grabbed the backpack he had brought to use as an overnight bag and left hotel room.

Dave flipped the extra locks on the interior of the door. He turned back around to find Kurt standing there. He had already taken his shirt off and was moving to take Dave’s off.

“Shower? There are things I’d like to do tonight that we won’t be able to do when your dad spends the night in here with us tomorrow night.”

Dave answered by stepping closer to Kurt and kissing him.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sunday, they spent time in Central Park in the late morning. They found a place to have a decent lunch without completely breaking the bank. Afterwards, they walked to the theater district and walked along Broadway looking at the marquees.

“I’m here. In New York City. On Broadway. I’m going to see my first real Broadway show.” He threw his arms around Dave’s neck.

Dave responded by wrapping his arms around Kurt’s waist.

Kurt pulled back a little bit. Dave let go and reached up to gently wipe the tears form Kurt’s cheeks.

“They’re happy tears. I’ve dreamed about this for so long, but I never imagined that I would have someone who loved me to come with me.”

“Well, I dreamed that you’d love me, but I never let myself believe it was the kind of dream that could come true.” He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Kurt’s. “I love you and you love me and my dream came true. Let’s get inside and make your dream come true.” Dave took his hand, interlaced their fingers and headed toward the Gershwin Theatre.

They got inside and found their seats. Dave put his arm around the back of Kurt’s chair until the show started. When the lights came on for the intermission. Kurt wiped his eyes.

“It’s perfect. It’s absolutely perfect.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They spent an hour walking around the area near their hotel after they returned from the theater. Kurt was still discussing the tiny details that he had noticed while watching the musical.

“Am I bothering you? I can quit talking if you want.”

Dave stopped, causing Kurt to stop since they were holding hands. Dave moved so that he was facing Kurt. And although there was no longer a need for Kurt to tip his head back to look Dave in the eyes, he put his hand under Kurt’s chin gently. He ran his thumb along Kurt’s lips. “I don’t ever want you to stop talking. Been there, done that. Hated every minute of it. Your enthusiasm is beautiful. The joy radiates in your eyes when you’re excited.” He leaned forward and kissed him. “Keep talking all you want. I thought it was amazing, but since I am not familiar with it like you are, I couldn’t notice all of the details because I was busy watching the big picture. I’ve heard some of the songs, your favorites mostly, but I had never heard the dialogue. I knew it was loosely based on the _Wizard of Oz_ stories, but I didn’t know the whole storyline. You talking about all of the details makes it come even more alive. Never stop being excited and talking about what you love.” He kissed him again, took his hand, interlaced their fingers, and started to walk slowly again.

Kurt used his free hand to wipe away a few tears. He nodded. “Okay.” He squeezed Dave’s hand and said, “Thank you.”

“Always, Fancy. Always.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Paul was back after dinner. The three of them stayed in the hotel that night. Monday, they left early to visit several college campuses including Juilliard, NYADA, NYU, and Columbia. And despite the fact that his visit to Columbia wasn’t an official visit, he did manage to tour the area where the athletes worked out and he got to talk to a couple of the football players who were working out at the time.

Monday evening, they picked their luggage up from the holding area, and took the train to White Plains. They stayed overnight and the next morning Paul rented a car and picked Judy and Quinn up when they came in on the train from New Haven. They visited a couple of college campuses in the general area, and had lunch at a nice seafood place before they drove back into the city.

They parked in a garage and walked up 5th Avenue, which was their last touristy part of their trip. They stopped in a gift shop and Kurt bought a window cling and a magnet. They walked along the Rockefeller Ice Rink and crossed 49th Street. They stopped in a French bakery before continuing down the street toward Rockefeller Center. From there, they went to FAO Schwarz. They walked through Chanel Gardens on their way to browse briefly in Balenciaga and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Although none of them was particularly religious anymore, they decided to see St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It was the first time any of them had seen even remotely similar to European cathedrals. They were all amazed at the beauty and workmanship. After they left, they briefly looked around the Versace and Armani Exchange stores. From there, they had to head back to the car so they could make it back to the airport on time.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Once they were finally up in the air on their way back to Ohio, Kurt started talking. “Those store were really cool, but I’m going to be making knockoffs my whole life unless I get famous enough for someone to want me to wear the clothes badly enough that they give them to me. The prices are just insane. A wristlet the size of the one I got Quinn was $750 at Balenciaga. I saw a nylon make up case for $350 in the Versace store. And the insane thing is that the people who can afford those things probably have so many that they only get used a few times a year. I really love fashion and I’m still sort of considering it. I don’t think I could do that though – charge so much. It’s one thing to pay a little extra for good quality, like Quinn getting the Fossil bag and me getting her the wristlet wallet that goes with it. That bag is high quality and had a hefty price tag for a purse, but it was nothing compared to the prices of the stuff in Balenciaga. I didn’t look that long, but from what I could see, everything was about 10 times the cost of the stuff in Fossil, which is really high quality stuff.”

“I looked at the price tag of a t-shirt in the Armani Exchange store and it was $60. I can’t imagine wearing a simple t-shirt that cost $60. A coat, a suit coat maybe, a pair of leather shoes sure. But I can buy a really nice t-shirt at Kohl’s for $20. And I can buy them cheaper other places. I will support you if you go into fashion, but please don’t make me wear clothes that I feel like I can only breathe in. I want to live in my clothes, not be afraid I’m going to ruin something that cost $400.”

“I promise. The only time I’ll have you wear something fancy is to a fancy event, not just to do regular normal daily things.”

“Good. I have a question. Do you not like jewelry? Like rings or necklaces? You wear brooches, scarves and scarf pins, and hats, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wear any jewelry.”

“I don’t have anything against it. I’m not a fan of gold jewelry, but I like silver rings. I’m not sure that I would wear a necklace because I really to like ties, bow ties, and scarves. I’d have to forgo wearing one of those in favor of a necklace, which would never be as eye catching or colorful.”

“That makes sense. What did you think of the schools we visited yesterday and today? It doesn’t seem like we went to any today. It’s so weird to see so many places in one day that it feels like more than single day, but it was this morning.”

“Other than seeing Cassie July berating her dance students a la Sue Sylvester, the rest pretty much fit my expectations from the information I had read online. I was surprised that she was treating them so disrespectfully. I completely expected the air of disdain that just flows off of Madame Tibideaux. She’s all that and she knows it and she expects a reverential level of respect, which didn’t surprise me at all given what I’ve read about her. She’s amazingly talented and I’m sure she’s a thorough teacher.”

“I hear a ‘but’.”

“But I’m not sure if that’s what I want. I want amazing teachers of course, but maybe I am naïve, but I’m hoping that I can learn to be really good or even great without being made to feel lower than dirt every day to do it. I know all about overcoming obstacles already. Perseverance through adversity builds character, but adversity is something that happens, not really something people pay tens of thousands of dollars for. What did you think of the places we went?”

“For me, the one we went to today seemed like a good fit for me. I’m going to do more research into small schools. The more I’m learning about myself and thinking about everything, I’m not sure that a huge university is what I’m looking for. I’d like to actually make some connections with people and I feel like going some place like NYU or Ohio State with over 50,000 students isn’t really what I’m looking for.”

“I’m wondering if all the expense of living somewhere so expensive is worth it while we’re in school. When I talked to people, they talked about how time consuming performance majors are. It’s not like a regular college program where you take four or five classes, depending on the number of credit hours each course is. There are 8 classes and even though each one is fewer credit hours, the work involved in doing well is actual physical work. You can read a history textbook on the train or subway or bus if you wear earbuds or you’re good at blocking out noise, but there is no way to practice a vocal piece, a dance, or a drama speaking part while commuting. And the vocal practice requires access to at least a keyboard and it makes noise. You can just practice a song at 3:00am to cram for something, not that it’s good to cram for tests, but we know it happens. There’s no cramming and if I stay up until 3:00, my voice will pay the price and my grades.”

“That’s true. I hadn’t considered that aspect of it. You’ll have to spend more time on campus to practice those things or have a studio like we do now, but being able to afford a place that would have that kind of space is not even remotely possible.”

“Which is why I’m wondering if being in New York City during college is as important as I thought it was. And even if it is, I have to come to terms with the fact that I won’t just be able to visit all of those amazing places very often because I’ll have to work a lot and it costs to get in. $25 to get into one of the museums is a lot. If we really love one place, a membership would be the best idea. But still, I’ll have to find a job that pays what I make now and work 25 hours a week and I don’t know how I can get that many hours in. And if I can’t make what I make now, I’ll have to work even more hours.”

“Your dad will help, right?”

“Well, yeah, but I figured he’d help towards my tuition. And I have to start looking into scholarships right away, so that I can make myself into the type of applicant the scholarship is looking for. You know, like it if say, ‘Must have been a peer tutor for two semesters’ or something. Or ‘must have taken extra courses in whatever’. If I lived in New York, I could pay half of the out-of-state tuition for the SUNY schools. I can’t think about this anymore right now. I just want to go back to thinking about how cool it was. Seeing _Wicked_ was fantastic. I loved walking around in Central Park. The High Line was relaxing. So was taking the ferry. Being there with you was wonderful.”

“I agree.”


	22. Chapter 22

Wednesday morning, it was back to the school routine. Everything about being home and in Lima felt weird. Kurt rolled over and turned his phone alarm off. His was set 10 minutes before Dave’s so they could snuggle for a few minutes before they got up.

Dave scooted closer when Kurt had turned over. Kurt found that out when he tried to roll back. He laughed.

“Mmm.” Dave kissed the back of Kurt’s neck and ran his hand down Kurt’s arm. “I like sleeping in our room alone.”

“You like putting your hands all over me.”

“True, very true.” He slid his hand under Kurt’s arm so he could run his fingers along Kurt’s chest.

Kurt squirmed a little. “Tickles.”

Dave pressed just a little harder so it wouldn’t tickle and Kurt would relax again. He heard Kurt let out the breath he was holding. He kissed Kurt’s shoulder. “I love you so much. Going to New York just made all of it seem so much more real.”

“It did. It was amazing. And there are so many amazing places. I want to go everywhere.”

“We’ll have to work on that. Let’s focus on getting to New York first.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After school they had football practice and afterwards Kurt had to go to work. Sam followed Dave home from football practice. Dave helped him with his math homework. He had already gone home before Kurt got home from work a little after 8:00. Kurt went to the kitchen, washed his hands again, and put his plate of food in the microwave to warm it up. He pulled it out, plopped down on a stool at the island and ate. He put his dishes in the dishwasher, turned it on, and went upstairs.

When he got near the top of the stairs, he could hear Dave talking to someone. Once he opened the door, he realized that it was Azimio and Artie. He kissed Dave on the cheek and went back downstairs and went into the room that Quinn used, where his sewing stuff was. He sat in his sewing chair and spread out his work on the bed. He looked through his assignments and prioritized them based on whether they had a written portion that had to be turned in the next day. Then he stacked them from hardest to easiest since it was already late. Once he had completed them, he went back upstairs.

He grabbed pajama pants and went in he bathroom to shower. Within a couple of minutes, Dave joined him. When they finished, Kurt pulled out reading he still needed to do for history, which was the class he was most likely to get called on to answer something in class. Once he finished the reading, he put his book back in his bag and got in bed.

Dave put his book away, shut and locked the door, turned off the lights, and got in bed. “Is everything okay?”

Kurt turned over and snuggled up on Dave. “Mmm hmm. Today was just a little hard. I kind of just want to go to New York now. I know I can’t, but I want to. Some days are just harder than others. I’m different and I know that and I’m okay with it, but in a big city I could be different with people who are different like me. I know that doesn’t really make sense, but I’m tired and I love you.” He pushed up and kissed Dave.

“Okay. As long as I didn’t do something to upset you.”

“Not at all. I was frustrated that I had some dumb worksheets to do for Spanish and a bunch of math problems to do. I understand the point of doing the problems to practice, but I don’t see the need to do 40 minutes worth of the same type of problem. It’s just repetition. Tomorrow when I get home from Glee, I have to work on Judy’s birthday present. If it doesn’t look like we’re doing anything useful in Glee tomorrow, I may just go sit in the Navigator and do homework. I’m definitely doing homework during lunch. Don’t tell anyone. That way we can sneak off to the library and sit in the back so I can get some reading done that my eyes wouldn’t stay open for tonight.”

“Okay. Let’s sleep then.”

“You have the best ideas. I love you.” Kurt relaxed and was asleep in a matter of minutes.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Kurt said as he got in the Dave’s truck after Glee rehearsal.

“I guess we’ll see, but I’m positive that it’s no worse than ‘Push It’ was last year.”

“But the Glee Club nearly got cancelled over that. And we have a new principal. We don’t know how bad getting on his bad side could be. Britney has other songs. ‘Stronger’ would have been a perfect choice. Why ‘Toxic’?”

“I don’t know. Let’s go home. I know you have sewing to do.”

“Yeah. I’m just envisioning all the ways tomorrow could end really badly. If all of us get banned from playing tomorrow night, the team doesn’t have a chance. We’ll probably just have to forfeit. If we get suspended it will go on our permanent records. I guess detention is the best we can hope for.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Friday at lunch, Kurt sat outside in the courtyard at the table farthest from the building. He texted Dave telling him where he was.   Dave plopped down next to him. Kurt pushed their food in between them. Dave leaned toward him and Kurt met him midway and kissed him.

“Of all the things I had considered, I hadn’t thought of Mr. Schue being the one to get a warning.”

“Well, he was in charge of the song selection.”

“What a mess. I guess the upside is that we don’t have to forfeit the game tonight. The downside is that we don’t get to go home after school and do nothing together all evening.”

“Maybe we can put that on tomorrow’s agenda.”

“Too late. We’re going to the movies, remember?”

“Right. Sunday evening, then.”

“Sounds perfect. If anyone asks, we’re busy Sunday evening.”

“Busy doing nothing together?”

“Exactly.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Saturday after ballet, Paul and Judy met them at the same restaurant they had gone to after the recital since they all really liked the food there. Paul and Judy had gone out to dinner the night before, but the other three couldn’t go because the football game was an away game and they didn’t get back until nearly 10:00.

While they waited for their food, they started with the gifts. Kurt gave her his first.

She took it from him. She smiled almost shyly. “Honey, you didn’t have to get me anything.”

“I know. I wanted to.”

She opened the gift bag and unwrapped the tissue paper. “Oh, it’s lovely. I have this pair of shoes this will look perfect with.”

Kurt smiled back. “I know. I had a little help when making my selection.”

“Well, it’s perfect. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Dave handed her an envelope. She said the same thing to him, but went ahead and opened it.

“Oh, I love that place. I’ve only been once, but it was amazing.”

“I had a little help too,” Dave said. “Quinn said how much better you said your neck felt after you went there after you had been shopping one day.”

“Thank you. I will enjoy the massage. The place seems to be doing well. At least when I’ve walked past the booth, their chairs always have people in them looking relaxed.”

Paul handed her a card. She opened and read it. “Paul Karofsky,” she practically snorted. She blushed and put the card back in and pulled out a piece of paper. “Oh, I really do need this. This afternoon? I can do that. Thank you.”

Quinn gave her a card. After she finished reading it, she used her napkin to blot her eyes. She put the card back in the envelope and took out another slip of paper. “Ooh, nice. Detailing for my car after the tune up. Thank you, honey.”

“You’re welcome, Mom.”

The waitress brought their food out. Kurt and Dave switched plates after she walked away. Everyone started to eat.

“There’s one last thing, but I didn’t bring it here. Quinn helped with it. She brought me the items from your closet that you had moved to the ‘needs repaired’ area. I finished up the last of them Thursday. So, when you go home, you can move them all back to wherever you actually keep them.”

“You two are tricky. I hadn’t even noticed any of them missing.”

“I took them to him one at a time.”

“Well, it’s really sweet of you to fix all of them for me. I appreciate it.”

Kurt nodded and went back to eating.

Quinn spoke up. “After we bring your car back this afternoon, we’re having dessert. Something I made, with some guidance.”

“Sounds lovely. I’m sure we’ll all love it.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt pulled into the driveway and parked Judy’s car behind Paul’s truck. He went inside and straight up to the bathroom to shower and change. Once he was redressed, he sat down on the futon and picked up _The Scarlet Letter._ He only had about 10 pages left to read. He wanted to finish before they went to the movie. Their English teacher had offered two choices for their paper that was due the end of the following week and one option was to compare the book to the movie _Easy A_. He hadn’t decided whether to choose that option, but he wanted to finish the book before watching the movie.

Dave came in the room when he had two pages left. Kurt held two fingers up, but kept reading. A couple of minutes later, he put the book down.

“Are you waiting for me to come down?”

“Yeah. I didn’t realize you hadn’t finished the book.”

“I haven’t really had time.”

Dave walked over and held out his hand and pulled Kurt to standing. He wrapped his arms around Kurt. “I’m sorry.” He held him close.

Kurt relaxed a little in his arms. “Why are you sorry. Did you drop the cheesecake or something?”

“No, nothing like that. I’m sorry that Dad asked you to do that tune up. He should have just had her take her car in like normal and paid for it.”

“He did pay the normal price. He didn’t ask for or expect a discount. I have the receipt and his change in my wallet.”

“But the shop was closed this afternoon.”

“I know. I just wrote everything up myself before I left and left the money in an envelope at the shop. I’ll put it in the system Monday morning.”

“So, you’ll get paid?”

“No. I didn’t clock in since the shop is closed. It doesn’t matter. Let’s just get downstairs. They may have other plans. I don’t want to mess those up, plus we need to be at the move theater at 5:10 to get tickets for the show. I’ll be down as soon as I do my hair and grab my shoes.”

“Alright.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“This is really delicious,” Judy said. “I don’t think I’ve ever had anything so fancy for my birthday.”

Quinn said, “I had help, but I’m learning.”

After everyone had finished, the three teens headed to the movie theater to meet up with everyone else. They picked Tina and Artie up on the way. They didn’t need to see the movie for the English paper, but when they heard the seniors talking about going, they wanted to join in.

They ended up going to Sonic afterwards because it was still nice out and they could all sit together outside. Kurt didn’t order anything to eat, but Dave let it go. They sat around and talked about the movie for a while and then the topic of Glee came up.

“Principal Harrison seems the type to not play games about stuff,” Artie said.

“Who picked ‘Toxic’ anyway? Why not ‘Stronger’ or at least less provocative moves for the choreography?”

Mike was the only one to answer. “Mr. Schue did the choreography – not me.”

Everyone else just kept talking. Kurt zoned out and quit listening. He came back to the present when people started getting up to dump their trash. He put Artie’s wheelchair in the back after Dave got him in the backseat. He was still partially zoned out, but he heard Artie saying something about play _Halo_ or _COD_ when they got home. They dropped Quinn off last, and then went home.

Dave reached over and put his hand on Kurt’s thigh. “Hey… What’s going on? You didn’t want to eat and you were in Lalaland.”

“I’m sorry. I’m not good at enjoying myself when I have stuff hanging over my head. I thought I’d have time to get more reading done than I did and I’m just physically tired too. Doing a tune-up and then detailing a car by myself for two hours is a workout. I’ll eat when we get home. I just wasn’t in the mood for fast food burgers or hot dogs.”

“Okay. How about I’ll make you something and you can read?”

Kurt nodded his head, “Thanks.”

“I’m sorry you had to do the detailing. Quinn and I were planning to do that. I didn’t know that my dad had planned for the two of us to mow and do the trimming one last time for the year THIS afternoon at Judy’s and at home.”

“I know. I guess he just assumed I was going to do all of the car stuff.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave, Artie, Azimio, Puck, and whoever else they had invited were all playing _COD_. Puck didn’t go to Columbus for the weekend, opting to stay and go to the movie and then go to the lake with everyone the next day. The away game and working that morning left him with schoolwork to do as well, but he had done it at the library between lunch and the movie.

Kurt ended up making a sandwich and grabbing a bag of baby carrots. He took the food and his books into the studio. He closed the door and sat on the sofa and started to read. He needed the quiet. He looked through his list and got busy.

A few hours later, Dave opened the door and looked in. “There you are. I’m sorry about not making you something to eat.”

“I’m not mad at you. I know you just didn’t think about how they’d want you to get on and play as soon as you got here. I’m fine. I ate a sandwich and some carrots. I’m not done yet, but I need to get some sleep.” He looked at his phone. It was nearly midnight. “I REALLY need to get some sleep.” He left his books and followed Dave back upstairs.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt got up early the next morning and managed to sneak downstairs and went back to his reading. Dave texted him about 8:30 asking him where he was. A few minutes later, Dave came into the studio.

“I need to get done. I’ve been up since 6:00. It’s not personal, but if you could just shut the door and leave me in here alone, I’ll do my best to be done by the time I need to get dressed to go to the lake. Otherwise, I’ll stay home and keep working on this stuff.”

“Why do you have so much more work than I do?”

“My math teacher keeps assigning a lot of problems to do. There might be at most 4 different types of problems to solve, but he assigns a lot of problems. My Spanish teacher is a worksheet fanatic. And my French class is all in French. We’re reading French literature. So, I have Spanish worksheets and French stuff that’s a lot like our English assignments. The French teacher you have doesn’t assign frivolous worksheets. I don’t need to do those worksheets to memorize the verb forms. I just copy them onto an index card and review it and I’m good to go, but the Spanish teacher seems to think that endless worksheets are the way to go. And then all she does is look to see that we did them. It’s frustrating. But let me get back to my work and hopefully, I’ll be able to go.”

“Okay.” Dave left and went in the kitchen to make breakfast.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Two hours later, Kurt rushed to get dressed and hopped in Dave’s truck. He scooted to the middle position and put his seat belt on, even though no one else was riding with them. He put his hand on Dave’s thigh. “I need to work on my schedule. And maybe I should go in and talk to my Spanish teacher and the math teacher. I don’t think it will make a difference, but I could try.”

“I just hate seeing you so stressed out. You’re working fewer hours already.”

“I know. I can’t cut back more. Football isn’t forever, so that will help.” Kurt closed his eyes and tipped his head back to rest.

When they got there, Azimio, Mercedes, Puck, Sam, and Tina were already there. Puck and Azimio were helping Paul launch the boat.

“Where’s Artie?”

“Oh, he forgot about some family thing he had to go today in Dayton,” Tina answered.

Kurt pulled the picnic tablecloth out and covered the table. Everyone started putting the food out. Puck, Azimio, and Paul joined them a few minutes later. Once they had eaten Puck and Dave loaded the cooler with the drinks in it onto the boat, while everyone put the rest of the food away. They all climbed on and headed out onto the lake, where they spent the rest of the afternoon talking and fishing.

“Do you think we’re going to do a play or a musical this fall?” Kurt asked.

“I wish we’d do a musical,” Tina said. “Something fun and silly. _Seussical_?”

“ _Narnia_ would be fun,” Kurt countered.

“Ooh, that would be cool,” Sam said. “I didn’t even know there was a _Narnia_ musical. I love those stories.”

Mercedes said, “I’m for whatever gets butts in the seats. _Cabaret_ may be fine and all, but it’s not really the kind of thing people take kids to and I think Tina’s right. Something fun would attract kids and we could pass out fliers at the elementary school.”

Sam said, “I don’t know what _Cabaret_ is about.”

She said, “It’s a period piece, set back in the 30’s maybe – a long time ago anyway. And it’s an adult story. Nothing at all that a lot of people around here would want to see.”

Sam said, “Kids would like the _Sound of Music_ , but we’d need actual kids to be in it. My brother and sister would want to do it. But it might be hard to get kids involved.”

Kurt said, “Don’t forget the sing-along _Sound of Music_ is this Thursday.”

Mercedes said, “How can we forget when you reminded us three times last week.”

“Sounds fun,” Sam said. “Do a lot of people go?”

“Quite a few. Not that many people our age, but I still love it,” Kurt said.

“It’s at 6:00, right?” Sam asked.

“Yep.”

The topic of conversation changed numerous times before Kurt curled up and went to sleep with his head on Dave’s thigh as his pillow. Dave took his cap off and placed it in a way that shielded Kurt’s face from the sun.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave and Kurt unpacked Paul’s truck as efficiently as possible. Kurt went upstairs as soon as they finished. He started packing up his school stuff. Dave told Paul that Kurt needed a break and asked if Paul could make something simple for dinner of they could order in. Paul agreed to order in Chinese. Dave went upstairs and found Kurt in the shower. He locked the bedroom door, and then he knocked on the bathroom door and asked if he could join.

“Always. Come on. I’ll even wash your hair if you hurry up.”

Dave wasted no time getting in. “You know all of my weaknesses.” Dave kissed him.

“But I won’t use them to hurt you. Turn around so I can do your hair.”

“More kisses first.”

“More kisses later or we’ll have to finish this as a cold shower.”

Dave turned around. Kurt had already done everything he needed to do, and he helped Dave with his shower. Once they were both rinsed off, they got out.

“You’re putting pajamas on at 5:00?”

“I am. I have decided that I am going to work on my schedule and from 5:00-10:00 on Sunday evening is going to be snuggle and play time. Maybe reading too, but only reading for fun. No schoolwork.”

“I see. What constitutes ‘play time’?”

“Anything we want.”

“Anything?”

“Umm hmm. But as much as I enjoy THOSE things, I also want to play board games and card games like we used to. I miss talking to you while we do those things. Two weeks of silence followed by three weeks of too much schoolwork is too long to not get to talk to you like I want to. I know I’m spoiled. I like it that way.” He batted his eyes at Dave and kissed up his neck.

“Now, Fancy… “

“Hmm?”

“You know I’ll give you whatever you ask for without the begging.”

“I just want you. I like having friends.” Kurt walked them back until Dave’s knees were against the end of the bed. Kurt pushed him a bit and he sat down. He pushed him back again gently and Dave plopped backwards. Kurt licked his lips and went back for Dave’s neck. “Scoot up in the bed.” Kurt waited and crawled up and went back to kissing Dave’s neck and continued the trail of kisses up to Dave’s ear. “I’ve missed this.”

“You’re in a feisty mood.”

“All it takes is me getting you alone without a mountain of schoolwork hanging over my head.”

“I’ll have to make sure that happens more often.” He pushed up on his elbows a bit and kissed him.

Kurt pressed into the kiss and arranged Dave back flat on his back. He changed his position to straddling Dave. He leaned forward onto his elbows. Dave moved his hands to Kurt’s back.

“I’ve just had too much weighing on me and I was letting it affect us. I don’t want that. I don’t want you to get the frustrated, tired, overworked part of me. I love you and I want to give you the best parts of me and I want to satisfy you and be a source of good things. I just feel like you’re getting the leftovers and I don’t want that. This is how I feel without those other things on my mind.”

“You’re so hot.” He ran his hands up and down Kurt’s sides. “I love you to, so much.”

“Can we? Can I?”

“Whatever you want. I’m up for anything.”

“Umm hmm. I can feel how ‘up’ you are.”

“Smartass.”

“I think you mean sexy ass.”

“That too.” He slid his hands past Kurt’s waist. He pulled Kurt a little closer and kissed him again.

Kurt responded by rolling his hips and licking his way into Dave’s mouth.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

  
“456 to 517. My lead.”

“Well, my last hand with two wild cards helped with that,” Dave said.

“It did.” Kurt wiggled his eyebrows and grinned like the Cheshire Cat.

“You are so fucking adorable.” He had the cards in his hands to put them away, and caught Kurt off guard by sweeping him up and out of the desk chair as he walked past and tossing him back on the bed and pinning him down. He started tickling him, but quickly changed to kissing up his sides, which still made Kurt laugh because of the way Dave was doing it.

“I’m going to have hickeys up my sides.” Kurt squirmed.

“No one’s going to see them except me.”

“Locker room?”

He harrumphed and started kissing him normally.

“I thought we were playing Stratego next.”

“We are. I’m just working on my strategy ideas while I kiss you.”

“Umm hmm.” He didn’t fuss more though because Dave covered Kurt’s lips with his own.

Dave’s phone pinged with a text. He sighed and moved to look at it. “The food’s here.”

“Food schmood. Kiss me.” Kurt reached for him and wrapped his hand behind his neck and pulled him closer and reattached his lips.

Dave phone pinged again. “If we don’t go down, Dad will come up looking for us.”

“Text him that we’re coming.” Kurt waited until Dave hit send and then reached for him again. “A few more kisses.”

Dave leaned down and kissed him chastely several times. “We have to get dressed too.” Dave moved to the side and got off the bed. He held his hand out to Kurt.

Once Kurt was standing, he wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck. “I think we can eat in our pajamas.” He swaggled over to the dresser and tossed pajama pants and a t-shirt to Dave.

“Sure.” He caught them and put them on.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt shut and locked the door behind him. “Next Sunday, we’ll eat an early dinner and bring some snacks up here with us in case we get hungry. This is going to be our time. I can’t promise to not let things get to me during the week, but if I set aside time for us, I can recalibrate my thinking that this time is for us. And just like other designated times, I can be single-minded about what I’m doing.”

“And I’m what you are going to be ‘doing’?”

Kurt stepped closer and looked like he was going to kissed Dave, but instead he quickly grabbed Dave’s t-shirt and pulled it up leaving him stuck with his hands over his head. Kurt pantsed him and started to tickle him. It didn’t take Dave long to get the shirt off and step out of the pants. He grabbed for Kurt, who dropped quickly causing Dave to miss. Kurt moved behind him quickly and jumped up on his back. When Dave caught him and had a good hold on him, Kurt slipped one hands down off Dave’s shoulders over the front and started running his fingers through Dave’s chest hair and licked the edge of his ear.

“You’re going to make me drop you.”

“Then take me back to bed.”

“Yes, sir.”

“That’s more like it,” Kurt teased.

Dave turned around and Kurt let loose and fell back onto the bed.

“You have too many clothes on.”

“You can fix that yourself you know.”

Dave grabbed his pajama pants at the ankles and pulled. “That’s better. Sit up if you want me to take your shirt off.”

Instead, Kurt rolled over and wiggled his tush. Dave crawled up the bed and got hold of the bottom of Kurt’s t-shirt and slid it up and over his head. Once it was off, he rearranged a bit and start kissing up Kurt’s spine and massaging him.

“Oh, my God. That feels amazing.”

“Good.” Dave worked the knots out of his back while still kissing him from time to time. Once he had finished, he said, “Now it’s time for Stratego.”

“After you turned me to mush?”

“Yep. Gives me a change to beat you.” Dave sat up a little bit, giving Kurt room to move.

He flipped himself onto his back and wrapped his hands around Dave’s biceps. And then ran his hands along them. “You not wearing a shirt will distract me for sure.”

“Well, you in your underwear certainly doesn’t make it easy for me to think.” He leaned down and kissed Kurt.

“Mmm. We’ll be equally disadvantaged and pleasantly distracted?”

“Works for me.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

At 10:00, Kurt curled up around Dave, who wrapped his arm around Kurt and pulled him even closer.

“So, do you approve of my new scheduled weekly event?”

“Absolutely. It was fantastic, glorious, extraordinary, and wonderful. It will be the one thing on my calendar that I will never want to miss.”

Kurt ran his fingers across Dave’s chest. “Good. You deserve to have all of my attention at least once a week. You’re always so sweet to me. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday morning, Kurt made Burt breakfast and packed it up to leave at the shop for Burt to eat when he got there. Dave waited in the truck for him. Kurt was surprised to find Burt already there. He rang up the work he had done on Saturday and put the money in the cash register. He picked up the small paper sack he had brought and walked into the bay where Burt was elevating a car on the lift.

“Hey, Dad. I brought you breakfast. Suzanne Somers says that skipping breakfast is suicide.”

He took the bag Kurt handed to him. “What’s this?”

Kurt walked past him and turned around to face him. “A egg white wrap on a sprouted wheat tortilla, half a grapefruit, and a green drink. And don’t say anything because I know you’ve gone back to eating 2 Slim Jims and a Coke.”

“Breakfast of champions.”

Kurt huffed. “What happened to taking care of yourself?”

He didn’t respond to the question, but looked in the bag. “Well, I guess with enough hot sauce, this will be alright. Thanks.”

Kurt nodded sassily.

“Hey, don’t forget we’ve moved Friday night dinners to Thursday. I want you to come.”

“I can’t do this Thursday. It’s sing-along _Sound of Music_ at the El Royale Theater. It’s a once-a-year event.”

“And last week you had a sewing project you had to finish. The Friday night dinners are a ritual in our family, one your mom started. I know we had to get Finn some help and switch the day, but still. We need to eat dinner together once a week, at least.”

“I understand, and I’ve told you that I could make time in my schedule for us to have dinner together and even Carole too, but you haven’t taken me up on that very often.”

“But now we can start again at home. Finn’s been going to counseling again – a better person this time.”

“Why are you making me feel guilty about this? I, of all people know how important the relationship between you and Carole is.”

“Those dinners are more than important. They’re sacred. Okay, the whole point of having something sacred is that it takes precedence over anything else you got going on.”

“Sing-along _Sound of Music_ is sacred to me.”

“What? You think I don’t know that? Wasn’t I the one that bought you the Maria bonnet when you were six?”

Kurt looked up at the ceiling completely aggravated, but trying to maintain his cool and mumbled, “Not again with the bonnet.”

“Okay, the point is if you start giving up family dinners, then you’ve got nothing to hold onto. Let’s face it, Kurt. If we don’t schedule it, we don’t hang out. If we don’t hang out, then our lives just go right by each other. And we don’t share very much.”

“A point I just made a minute ago. The three of you can come with me to the sing-along _Sound of Music_ and be part of the tradition that Mom and I had. We can eat afterwards.”

“You know Finn won’t go for that.”

“Again with Finn. I’m sorry, Dad, but I’m not missing something that I looked forward to all year just for another dinner. Maybe we could do it Wednesday or something.” Kurt walked back through the bay towards the door.

Burt turned around toward the bay door. “I gotta tell you, Kurt, I’m real disappointed in you.

Kurt turned and walked out of the building and straight to the truck. He didn’t say anything when he got in. Dave headed to school because they were already cutting it close to make it on time for the before school Glee Club meeting that Finn had texted everyone to come to.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt felt like he had fallen down a rabbit hole. Finn wanted the Glee Club to sing songs to pay tribute to Jesus all week? “Sorry, but if I wanted to sing about Jesus, I’d go to church. And the reason I don’t go to church is because most churches don’t think very much of gay people. Or women. Or science.”

Mercedes said, “I don’t see anything wrong with getting a little church up in here.”

Mr. Schue stepped in. “Maybe our songs don’t have to be about Jesus, but maybe they could be about spirituality.”

Finn asked the class as a whole, “You got a problem with Jesus?”

Puck said, “Oh, I got no problem with the guy. I’m a total Jew for Jesus. He’s my number one Heb. What I don’t like seeing is people using J-money to cramp everybody else’s style, cause it seems to me that true spirituality or whatever you want to call it is about enjoying the life you’ve been given. I mean, I see God every time I make out with a new chick.”

Santana said, “That doesn’t make any sense. In fact, it’s stupid.”

They continued to argue until Puck got up and started to sing “Only the Good Die Young.”

Kurt sat by the door and eventually just walked out to go to his first period class.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave came in a few minutes later and sat down next to him.

“Hey.” He reached for Kurt’s hand and squeezed.

Kurt squeezed back. He kept his voice low enough that only Dave could hear. “So, Finn’s got a new, better counselor according to my dad. And now he’s found Jesus.” He let go of Dave’s hand when other students started to arrive. He pulled his book and notebook out to be ready when the teacher started.

Kurt was in French when Mr. Schue and Miss Pillsbury came to pull him out of class near the end of third period. He put his stuff in his satchel and followed them out of the classroom.

“What’s going on?”

“You’re dad’s at the hospital. We’re going to take you there.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt texted Dave on the drive over. When they got there, Kurt went in through the ER. Mr. Schue and Miss Pillsbury followed him in and sat down in the waiting area with him after they let the intake nurse know they were there. About 30 minutes later, a doctor came out to speak to them.

“Where is he? Is he dead?”

“No, he’s alive. He’s had a ventricular tachycardia event along with an extended episode of his previously-known atrial fibrillation issues. He’s had a minor heart attack as well. We’ve stabilized his heart rate and stopped the arrhythmia with drugs. He initially passed out, but he is conscious. He didn’t hit his head when he fainted, so no concussion. We’ll be keeping him overnight for observation.  That way we can get his test results and all of his lab work back before we release him in case they show something else that we need to deal with.”

“So, he’s going to be okay?”

“Unless we find something really unusual this afternoon, he’ll be released tomorrow. He’s hooked up to a lot of things right now and we need to be able to get to him if one of the monitors he’s wearing triggers an alarm. We’re getting ready to move him to where we can do more tests, as I mentioned. You can visit him for 10 minutes, but then I’ll need you to leave.”

Kurt nodded. “Thank you.”

“This way. We’ll get him in a room soon. You can come back later, after dinner.”

Kurt followed the doctor to Burt’s triage area.   “Hey, Dad.”

“Hey, kiddo.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what, Kurt?”

“I’ll come Thursday. I didn’t mean to upset you so much that you had a heart attack. I just didn’t want to change what I’ve been planning for a year. If it’s that important to you, I’ll come to dinner Thursday.”

The doctor intervened. “Son, if you think you somehow caused this, you didn’t. Your dad has been skipping his medication some of the time, and specifically this morning. He said he forgot to take it and didn’t go back home to get it. And he already admitted to not eating the way he had been told to by the cardiologist. An argument or whatever went on about whatever dinner you’re talking about had nothing to do with this.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m positive. He wasn’t agitated at the time of the event according to the man who called 911. He was calmly talking about checking his inventory about a car part.”

Kurt let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“Kurt, you were right. I was being obstinate. Your mom would have let me have it in her quiet, firm voice that I was being ridiculous about dinner.”

An orderly came in.

The doctor said, “I’m sorry, son. We have to move him to do the tests, and then he’ll be moved to a room. Like I said, come back after dinner.”

“Go back to school for now, Kurt. There’s no use in you sitting around in the waiting room while they do a bunch of tests.”

“Okay, Dad. I’ll go back to school.” He went back to where Mr. Schue and Miss Pillsbury were waiting for him. “He told me to go back to school.”

Miss Pillsbury nodded. Kurt followed them back out to her car.  

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt texted Dave again on the way back. Lunch was over. Kurt went to his fourth period class, which he had with Dave. He gave his late pass to the teacher and took his seat next to Dave. He took out his notebook, turned to the back page and wrote what the doctor had told him.

Dave read it and nodded slightly so the teacher wouldn’t notice. Dave did his best to take good notes because he saw that Kurt wasn’t taking any. When classes ended, Kurt put his stuff away. Their next class wasn’t together, but Dave walked him to his classroom. He hugged him and held him for a few seconds before he had to go.

“I love you. I’ll come back for you. Wait for me?”

Kurt nodded. He went inside and sat down. Fortunately, it was Spanish and Kurt didn’t really need to pay much attention. When the period ended, he waited for Dave like he said he would. They went to history together. Kurt zoned out again. He looked up ventricular tachycardia on his phone. When the period ended they went to Glee Club.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Finn came barreling in. “What the hell happened?”

“My dad is in the hospital.”

“I know. My mom called me. I feel like I’m the last one to know.”

“Well, I’m sorry, Finn. It didn’t occur to me to call you because I figured your mom would tell you and he’s not your father.”

“Yeah, well, he’s the closest I’m ever going to get, okay? It may not look like what everyone else has, but I thought we were sort of a family.”

Kurt shook his head and sat down next to Dave.

“Look, I guess I just didn’t like overhearing other people talking about it.”

Kurt moved his satchel out of the seat next to him and Finn sat down. He tried to put his hand on Kurt’s shoulder and Kurt stuck his index finger in the air and moved it back and forth, much like a warning. Finn removed his hand quickly.

Mr. Schue said, “Look guys, I know it’s sort of hard to really focus on anything else.”

Mercedes interrupted. “Mr. Schue?

“Yeah?”

“I’ve been struggling all afternoon about what I want to say to Kurt and I’ve realized that I don’t want to say it – I want to sing it.” She got up. “This song is about being in very dark place and turning to God. It’s a spiritual song, Mr. Schue. Is that okay?”

“It’s fine.”

She sang “I Look to You”.

“Thank you, Mercedes. Your voice is stunning, but I don’t believe in God.”

“Wait, what?”

“You’ve all professed your beliefs. I’m just stating mine. I think God is kind of like Santa Claus for adults. Otherwise, God’s kind of a jerk, isn’t he? I mean he makes me gay, and then has his followers going around telling me that it’s something that I chose. As if someone would choose to be mocked every single day of their life. And right now, I don’t want a heavenly father. I want my real one to be okay.”

“But Kurt, how do you know for sure? You can’t prove that there’s no God.”

“You can’t prove there isn’t a magic teapot floating around on the dark side of the moon with a dwarf inside of it that reads romance novels and shoots lightning out of its boobs, but it seems pretty unlikely doesn’t it?”

“Is God an evil dwarf?” Brittany asked.

“We shouldn’t be talking like this,” Quinn said emphatically. “It’s not right. Some of us believe in God. At least one of us doesn’t. The rest are probably somewhere in the middle. But this isn’t the time for this. Burt is in the hospital and Kurt is upset. Don’t make it worse for Kurt by attacking his beliefs or lack thereof.”

Kurt stood up and faced them. “I’m sorry. You al can believe whatever you want to, but I can’t believe something I don’t. I appreciate your thoughts, but I don’t want your prayers.” Kurt walked out.

Dave got up and followed him. He drove to the nearest park. Once he parked, he scooted to the center and put his arm around Kurt’s shoulders. Kurt took his hand.

“I know I already told you that I don’t believe in God. You’re not upset with me too are you?”

“No, Kurt. No. I already told you that it didn’t matter to me, but I understand that you want reassurance. You don’t need to worry. I understand completely. I’ve lived through the hatred. You know that.”

“I shouldn’t have smarted off to everyone like that – not with Brittany in the room. She didn’t need to hear me say that. I’m going to apologize to her tomorrow. Everyone else should have just let it go. Can we go get something to eat? I don’t feel like eating, but I know I should. I got back after lunch.”

“I have the rest of what we brought in my backpack. When you didn’t show up. I ate both sandwiches and left the other stuff since the ice packs don’t last all day.” Dave opened his backpack and handed Kurt a bag of carrots and grapes.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. You said you can’t go back until after dinner. So, you think 5:30?”

“Probably. I need to get my homework done. Let’s go to the library until 5:15.”

“Okay. Can I kiss you?”

Kurt nodded and turned toward Dave and they kissed chastely. Dave scooted back over so he could drive.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt walked up to the information desk and got his dad’s room number. He and Dave rode the elevator up to the 3rd floor. They got off and found his room. When they walked up, they saw Rachel, Mercedes, Finn, and Carole in the room. Rachel was singing “Papa, Can You Hear Me” with a lit candle. He paused long enough to attempt to put himself together before he marched into the room.

“What are you doing in here? Does the doctor know you have a CANDLE lit in a room with oxygen tanks? Blow that thing out.”

“We came with Carole,” Rachel said. “We came to pray for your dad.”

Mercedes said, “We’re from three different denominations and churches. We figured one of us is bound to be right.”

“I didn’t ask you to do this.”

“Honey, I know you’re upset about what’s happened. I get it. But friends help out even when you don’t ask.”

“Actually I asked you not to. Can you all please leave now?”

The doctor came in behind Kurt. “I have to agree with this young man’s request. I didn’t authorize anyone to be in here until after dinner, which isn’t technically for another 15 minutes. And why is there a candle that looks like it’s been lit recently? Remove that please. And there should only be two people at a time in here.”

Everyone left the room except Kurt. Once they were all gone, Dave came in too and stood on the other side of the bed.

“Why is my dad unconscious? He was awake when I left.”

“He’s not unconscious. One of the tests I wanted to do required him to be sedated. He should be waking up any time. He’s doing fine. We didn’t pick up any other issues on any of the other tests we ran. He hasn’t had any more arrhythmia episodes since he’s been here. He and I will be revisiting the discussion about his diet and his lack of exercise and his need to carry around extra heart pills in case he forgets to take one before he leaves the house in the mornings.”

“But the tests are all fine, you said?”

“Yes. He needs to do what he was told last fall.”

Kurt nodded. “Can we stay?”

“Sure. Visiting hours are until 7:00 on this floor.”

“Thank you for everything. Should we do anything when he wakes up?”

“Just alert the nurse so she can check on him.”

Kurt nodded and pulled a chair over to sit down next to Dave. He propped his elbows on his knees and put his head down on his hands. Dave reached over and put his hand on Kurt’s lower back. They sat that way until Burt started to stir. Kurt got up and pressed the nurse’s call button.

“Hey, Dad.”

“Hey, kiddo.”

“The doctor said you’re in the clear. Your tests all came back however they were supposed to. But you’re in for a lecture on not taking your medication properly, not eating what you are supposed to, and not exercising.”

“Figures.”

“You scared me out of my wits.”

“I know. I’ll change my ways – this time for good.”

“I hope so.”

The nurse came in. She checked all of the vitals on his monitors and took his blood pressure. “You’re doing fine now. Just rest.”

“Thanks.”

“You still have schoolwork left?”

“Of course.”

“If you can do any of it here, get to it. I’m just going to be right here doing exactly nothing.”

“Carole was here earlier with Finn, Mercedes, and Rachel. They came to pray for you.”

“That was nice.”

“I asked them to leave.”

“Why?”

“Because they made a big deal about me not believing in God at school today. I asked them to leave me be about it. And when I got here, you were still asleep from the sedation and Rachel was singing with a lit candle in here. I just got mad. I’ll text Carole to come back. I’m sorry.” Kurt pulled his phone out and texted her.

He pulled out his copy of _The Scarlet Letter_ and his flag post-it notes and started to mark the scenes he wanted to use for his English paper. When Carole and Finn got there about 15 minutes later, he got up and offered Finn his seat. Dave got up and stood by the door.

Kurt moved closer to the head of the bed. “I’m glad you’re going to be okay. I’ll come back at lunch tomorrow to take you home. That way Carole won’t lose pay at work.”

“That’s fine, bud. I’ll see you then.”

Kurt squeezed his hand and left the room.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt texted everyone in the Glee Club plus Rachel and asked them to come before school again Tuesday morning on the way back home. Paul made spaghetti for dinner while Kurt and Dave sat at the dining table doing their schoolwork. They pushed it to the side while they ate, and then went right back to it after they finished. Once they finished everything they needed a table for, they went in the studio to finish the reading that they had to complete for the next day. Dave finished first and he pulled Kurt’s feet up into his lap and rubbed them.

Kurt finally finished and put everything back in his bag. “I need to talk to your dad. You can just go up and play _Halo_ or something.”

“Whatever you want. I don’t want to stick my nose in where it doesn’t belong, but I’m here for you if you want me to be.”

“Alright. Come with me.”

They found Paul in the den. He pressed pause when they came in.

“I need to ask you something.”

“Alright.”

“When the two of you stayed at your office that day after I moved my stuff here, did my dad change his will?”

“He did. He had me write up a trust so that the shop and his assets would be held in an estate until you turn 18, with me as the executer of the estate. He also named me as your guardian should he pass away before you turn 18.”

“Thank you.”

“I hope this is enough of a wake up call to take what he’s been told seriously.”

“I hope so too. I asked because I was going to insist that he do it tomorrow, if he hadn’t.”

“It’s as ironclad as I can get it.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Good night, you two.”

“Night, Dad.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave was the big spoon with his arms wrapped around Kurt.

“I’m going to apologize to everyone tomorrow.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s not worth it. I don’t want everyone to dislike me again. If I apologize and accept whatever religious nonsense they tell me, it will stop sooner. If I don’t agree with them on some level, they’ll keep trying to convert me. They’ll keep saying I just haven’t given it a chance. So, I’m going to nip it in the bud. That’s why I called everyone to meet before school. I won’t ever bring this topic up again. I wish I hadn’t said anything today, but I was just so on edge, I spouted off.”

“You shouldn’t have to apologize for having your own opinion or belief.”

“You know that and I know that, but think about it from the perspective of what I just said. They are adamant in their beliefs. I am not going to dissuade them, not that I’m going to try to. But I wouldn’t be able to even if I did try. Believing in something is important to them. If I want to co-exist with them, I’m going to have to be the one who bends. I’d rather acquiesce now than to be ostracized yet again over something that doesn’t matter to me. Being atheist or agnostic is not important to me the way being Christian or Jewish is important to them. It’s not an ethnicity or something that is celebrated. I’m not sure this makes any sense. But it does to me.”

“You know I will support you, right? Whether you want to back down for the sake of harmony or whether you want to stand up for your right to believe as you see fit.”

“This is sort of a combination of both of those two. You’ll see tomorrow. I’m tired. It’s been a hard day.”

“I love you and I’ll be here for you.”

“I love you too.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“So, I’ve called you all here because I have a song I’d like to sing, but first I’d like to apologize. We are all a different points in our understanding of ourselves, the universe, and the nature of any deities that may exist. It was wrong of me to ask you to not practice whatever type of spirituality you’ve chosen. I will take under advisement your statements about me having no way of knowing that I’m right. If and when I decide I’m ready to pursue learning more about spirituality, I have access to the scriptures of many religions. I will leave you to pursue your own spiritual studies and I’m requesting that you leave me to pursue my own as well. Whenever I am ready to pursue anything beyond researching written materials, I know who to turn to for more information.”

Several people in the room nodded in understanding.

“This song is special to me because I used to sing it with my mom to my dad. After she passed away, I continued to sing it when I wasn’t able to really explain what was wrong, mostly the chorus when I was young. I’ll go ahead and sing now.”

He sang “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”. Tears streamed down his cheeks before he finished. Several other people in the room were moved to tears. When he finished singing, he left.

Dave stayed behind. “Just please do as he asked. Think about it. Rachel, if one of your dads was in the hospital, would you want Mercedes telling you that you’re not praying the right way?”

Rachel shook her head.

“And what if Puck dogged you Mercedes? What if he followed you around and said that you needed to go to his synagogue if you wanted your prayers to get answered?”

“I get it,” she said. “He’s our friend. We need to respect his wishes. We should have gone to our own places of worship or gone home and prayed for Burt. Showing up against Kurt’s wishes was out of line. Whether we think we were doing something good or not, we should have done our good thing in private. Kurt had enough stress on him yesterday without the stress of showing up to find us going against his request. It was wrong of us. I’ll apologize to him for not doing what he asked.”

Rachel said, “Me too.”

Dave picked up his bag and Kurt’s to go find Kurt. Sam got up and followed him out of the room.

“Can we talk?”

“Sure, but let me find Kurt first.” He texted Kurt and got a response. “This way. He went to our first period class.”

Sam followed him. Dave put Kurt’s satchel in the table and sat down next to him. Sam sat backwards in one of the chairs for the table in front of them so he was facing them.

“You obviously don’t have to answer me, but I’m missing some key piece of information. And rather than ask someone and listen to gossip or rumors, I’m just going to ask you.”

“Okay.”

“I’ve been to your place a few times. You live with Dave and his dad. I never asked, but I assumed that your parents weren’t around for whatever reason or that they kicked you out.”

“Reasonable assumptions. I was trying not to influence you. My mom died when I was 8. From then until last winter, after Christmas, it was just me and my dad. He and Finn’s mom, Carole, started dating in mid-January or so. A month later, he asked her to move in. We lived in a 2-bedroom house. Finn and I had to share a room. That didn’t work. Two weeks later, I moved all of my stuff to the Karofsky’s and I’ve lived there ever since.”

“So, Finn and his mom live with your dad and you moved out?”

“Yes.”

“That doesn’t really make any sense.”

“Well, first period is about to start and you need to go or you will be late to class. I don’t have time to explain the details, but the Cliff Notes version is that Finn was or may still be homophobic, and sharing a room with me was never going to work.”

“Alright, then. I’ll mind my own business unless you want to tell me more at any point in time. I’m not a gossip and I won’t spread rumors.”

“I appreciate that.”

Sam grabbed his bag and left for his first period class.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt turned in his afternoon homework before he left the building during lunch. When he got to the hospital, he went up to Burt’s room.

“Hey, kiddo.”

“You’re sounding better.”

“Yeah, that sedation takes it sweet time to wear off it seems.”

“You’re unhooked from everything. And you’re dressed.”

“I am. I’ve been given a relatively clean bill of health, and a very stern lecture on my poor life choices.”

“I brought you something. Where are you keys?”

Burt stood up and pulled them out of his pocket and handed them to Kurt.

“I bought this last night after I left. It’s a stainless steel pill bottle with a rubber seal to make it waterproof unless you actually intentionally submerge it in water for an extended period of time. You can put two of your pills in it and you’ll have extras with you from now on.”

“Thanks.”

The doctor came in. “Obviously, he’s ready to go.”

“Please tell me you gave him the lecture while Carole was here. She’s a nurse, she really should know better.”

“She wasn’t here, kiddo, but I called her when he came in and put my phone on speaker.”

“Good.”

“So, he’s had the requisite lecture. And he’ll be seeing his cardiologist for a follow-up visit on Friday.”

Burt showed the doctor the pill container.

“Excellent. I’ll assume that was your doing, son?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, that should help with the forgetting. I’d suggest an alarm on your phone as well.”

Kurt said, “I’ll see to that.”

“The discharge nurse will be here momentarily.” The doctor left.

Kurt started to sing the chorus quietly.

“We’re all going to see the sing-along thing.”

“Really?” Kurt perked up. “Some of my friends are going too.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt got Burt home and situated in the living room. Quinn was coming to replace him as soon as school got out because having two people missing from the shop was going to cause too many problems. Carole would replace Quinn when she got home from work.

Kurt cooked what he could find in the kitchen that fit Burt’s dietary guidelines.

“Carole is going to have to start buying what you need or you’re going to have to do it yourself. Maybe you could stack the washer and dryer and put a small chest freezer in the laundry closet to store either Finn’s crap or your food. There’s not enough room in the refrigerator freezer for both.”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll have someone out to do that.”

“If that won’t work, you could make room for a chest freezer in the garage. It’s not that hard to go out there to get something.”

“That’s true.”

“Come sit at the table. The soup I made you is ready to eat.”

Burt went in the dining room and sat down.

“You seem to be feeling okay.”

“Just a bit tired from the medication and the sedation. No real aches or pains or anything.”

“Good.”

After they ate, Kurt cleaned up and packed up the leftover soup. Kurt went up to Burt’s room and brought down some more comfortable clothes for him to lounge around in.

“You can change in here. I’ll just wait in the entry way until you call for me.” Kurt took Burt’s clothes along with the basket of dirty clothes he had brought down and started a load of laundry. “Get comfortable and pick something to watch.” Kurt sat on the sofa.

“I know you’ve got schoolwork. You can do that in the dining room. I’ll keep the volume down. If I need you, I’ll call for you.”

“If that’s what you want. I’ll go get my school stuff.” Kurt brought it back in and set up at the dining table and got busy. He was still working when Quinn rang the doorbell. He got up to let her in. She stepped inside and hugged him. “Thanks. Come with me.”

“Dad, Quinn’s here. She probably has schoolwork too. Just let her know if you need something.”

“I’m fine, Kurt. But thanks for coming over, Quinn.”

“You’re welcome.” She followed Kurt into the dining room. She got her stuff out.

“If he gets hungry, there’s soup in the fridge.”

“Got it. I’ll call you if anything goes wrong.”

“Thank you for staying with him. Carole should be here around 6:00, I think.”

“It’s fine. Now, go before you’re any later.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt finished up at 8:00. He went back by the house to see Burt when he got off. Carole opened the door when he rang the doorbell.

“Come on in, Kurt.”

“Hey, bud. Thanks for coming by.”

Kurt moved into the living room and stood near the TV. “How are you feeling? Still okay?”

“Yep, just fine. I can’t go back to the shop until Friday after my appointment though. So, I’ve got a couple enforced vacation days.”

“Well, just rest and watch TV. It’s a good excuse to watch several seasons of something you thought might be interesting, but never had the time to get caught up to the current season.”

“I’ll see what there might be.”

“What about _Psych_? We saw a few episodes of that and we both liked it. It’s been on for a few years I think. You could watch the first two seasons of that.”

“I might just do that. It’s pretty funny.”

“You call me at school if you need me. Miss Pillsbury knows what happened and she’ll let me leave, no questions asked.”

“I’ll be fine. You left me soup. Carole can get me breakfast before she goes to work.”

“Follow the food guidelines. You’re having another stress test Friday, right?”

“You’re my stress test. Relax, Kurt. I’m going to be fine.”

“I’ll come check on you between football practice and going to the shop.”

“I’ll be here.”

Kurt moved to the side of the couch where Burt was sitting and leaned over the couch and hugged Burt. “Behave.”

“Yes, dear,” Burt said in a sing-song voice.

“I’ll be by tomorrow.”

“See ya.”

“’Night, Dad.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Thursday evening, everyone met up at the theater. Kurt and Dave had gone early to save two rows of seats. When the others started to arrive, Kurt and Dave moved so that they were sitting together. Finn, Carole, Burt, Kurt, Dave, Paul, Judy, and Quinn sat in one row. Everyone else sat in the row behind them.

Burt, Carole, Paul, and Judy offered to take all of the teens out for pizza. Everyone texted their parents that needed to. They had a good time. When they all left, Burt pulled Kurt aside.

“I’m sorry about what I said. I’m not disappointed in you. I’m proud of you. I was angry and I said something mean in my anger. I knew it would get to you and you would change your mind, or at least I thought you would. This was better. I would still like us to have dinner one night a week.”

“I work until 8:00 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I try to get extra homework done on Mondays and Thursdays and I have football on Fridays right now. I have ballet on Saturday mornings. I’m busy Sunday nights. Maybe we could have Saturday breakfast or lunch each week. I’m not trying to be obstinate, but I have a lot of commitments that I can’t let slide. I need the ballet for college. I need to do well in my classes to even get into college. And I have to work.”

“I’ll talk to Carole about Saturdays.”

Kurt nodded. “I need to go. I have some stuff I have to do that I have to turn in tomorrow. A paper actually. I’ll probably be up half the night to finish it because I came here after the movie.”

Burt nodded.

“Let me know what you find out at the doctor tomorrow.” Kurt turned to walk to Dave’s truck.

“I will.” Burt waved.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Friday night during the game, they were struggling. Coach Beiste called the play, but Finn thought he could outsmart the opposing team and called for a different play. Kurt knew something was wrong when Coach Beiste yelled from the sidelines. Sam ended up trying to run the ball into the end zone, but got sacked hard. He couldn’t get up. He was taken to the ER. He had separated his shoulder knocking him out for the rest of the season. In the end, they managed to squeak by with 1-point lead.

Burt’s cardiologist visit went well. His stress test didn’t show any issues. He got another lecture about not skipping doses of his medicine, eating what he should, and exercising.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The following Monday was the first day for their duets competition. Half of the group performed. The other half, including Kurt performed on Thursday. He had managed to get his outfit finished the night before. By the time he was halfway through, he was regretting his choice, but the Cheerios had already come in and worked with him and Mike before school Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. They performed “Le Jazz Hot”. He asked Lauren from the A/V Club to film it in case he could use it for his CV in the future. By the end of the performance, the regrets had melted away and he was thrilled with how it had turned out.

When it came time to vote, Kurt suggested that no one be able to vote for themselves. When the votes were tallied, he didn’t win. Technically he and Mike hadn’t performed a duet, but they both were pleased with their presentation. Sam and Quinn won. Their rendition of “Lucky” was a perfect fit for their voices.

Friday night marked their sixth game and sixth win.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The week after the duets competition was insane because Mr. Schue decided that staging the _Rocky Horror Picture Show_ for their fall musical would be a good idea. Azimio backed out saying there was no decent part for him and he didn’t have the time to do it. Dave wasn’t interested either, saying that acting wasn’t his thing. They divided up the roles and since it wasn’t technically a Glee Club project, Mr. Schue let Rachel join.

By the time they had it close to ready to perform the following week, Sue swept in and closed them down. They performed for themselves Thursday after school. Mr. Schuester was called into Mr. Harrison’s office and suspended for a week since he hadn’t seemed to learn his lesson about performing risqué and inappropriate material.

That Friday evening was their 8th consecutive regular-season win, which was the school’s longest winning streak ever.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The following Monday, Kurt approached Holly Holiday, the substitute that was covering Mr. Schue’s class, and asked her to sub for Glee Club as well. She gladly agreed. She shocked everyone by asking their opinions on what to perform and got everyone up on their feet singing “Forget You.” On Thursday, she and Rachel performed a fun jazzy mash-up and dance routine.

Friday evening marked their 9th win. A spot in the play-offs was looking very likely. After the game, Kurt and Dave went home and got started on the big Halloween order that Mrs. Adams had placed again. They got up Saturday morning and baked cookies. When they came back from ballet, they spent the afternoon frosting cupcakes and cookies. Azimio came to pick them up and this time Kurt had kept back a couple of cookies for him, having remembered the look of disappointment on his face the previous year when he was told that there were no extras.

Saturday evening, Kurt, Dave, and Quinn carved pumpkins and lit them up with candles on the retaining wall around the back patio. It was a warm evening and they ate dinner outside and snacked on pumpkin bread that Quinn had made.

Trick-or-treating cut into their “Do Nothing” time on Sunday, but they had baked extra cookies the day before so they wouldn’t have to bake again on Sunday. They dressed in the same costumes, football player and referee, that they had worn the year before.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The first Monday in November, Mr. Schue was back at school. The Glee Club met after school as usual. He told them their competition at Sectionals would include an elderly group and the Warblers from Dalton Academy in Westerville.

“I want your mash-ups to be as opposite as possible. Guys do songs typically sung by women. Girls do songs typically sung by men. The more opposite your choice, the more points you get.”

Kurt went home and worked on two presentation boards showing his ideas for the guys’ mash-up. He texted all of the guys and ask them to meet before school Tuesday morning. He put both of his boards on easels and started his presentation once everyone was there.

“Now, obviously for this medley to work, I’m going to have to sing lead. And when you’re singing Diana Ross, Bob Mackie-esque maribou feather boas are a must.”

“Isn’t this lesson about opposites?” Artie asked. “You in a sequined gown and a feather boa is exactly what you’d expect.”

“Okay, who said anything about a gown?”

Puck smarted off, “Why don’t you make yourself useful and go put rat poison in some old folks’ jello or visit the Garglers?”

“The Warblers.”

“Whatever. See what they’re up to. You can wear all the feathers you want. You’ll blend right in.”

Kurt sighed heavily. He turned back towards his boards and said, “Fine.” He took them down and walked out of the room.

Dave didn’t follow him right away. He thought it would be better to give him time to cool down. When he didn’t come back, Dave stood up. “That was really shitty of you two. I thought you were his friend, Artie. And I thought you had grown up, Puck.”

“We were just joking around,” Artie said.

“Jokes are fun for everyone. Did Kurt look like he found what you said to be funny? He spent two hours last night working on those boards and coming up with songs and getting the parts partially worked out.”

Azimio stood up too. “I’m not down with this. Y’all can do it on your own. Kurt’s been nothin’ but nice to me for the last year. I have NO idea what he was talking about, but it was clear that he put a lot of work into it. You could’ve shut up long enough to listen to him. We could’ve vetoed the feather things after we agreed to the parts we liked. He had the music all done for us and everything. I can’t do that. Text me when you got it worked out. I’m outta here.”

Azimio followed Dave out of the room. Dave texted Kurt several times, but didn’t get a response. He looked out in the parking lot to see if he had gone to cool down in the Navigator, but it was gone. He called Kurt instead.

“Kurt, where are you?”

“On my way to change my clothes.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m going to spy on the Warblers. I’ll call you later. I’m driving.” He ended the call.

Dave put his phone away and shook his head. He went to their first period class alone.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt made it to Dalton by 10:00. He stopped in the office to ask for a pass to visit the school. He got one, and an escort. He managed to ditch his escort by requesting to know where the restroom was. He walked down a grand staircase and stopped a guy who was a few steps in front of him. He told him that he was thinking of enrolling the next semester, and apologized for getting turned around and losing his escort.

“Everyone looks so similar in the uniforms. I should have paid closer attention to what he looked like.” He quickly showed him the pass he had from the office before putting it back in his pocket. “Can I ask you a question?”

“My name is Blaine.” He offered his hand.

“Kurt.” He shook Blaine’s hand.

“So, what exactly is going on here?”

“The Warblers. Every now and then they throw an impromptu performance in the Senior Commons. It tends to shut the school down for a while.”

“So, wait. The Glee Club here is kind of cool?”

“The Warblers are like rock stars. Come on. I know a short cut.” He reached out to take Kurt’s hand to lead him to where they were going.

Kurt politely declined, but followed along behind him. They ended up running through a hallway.

As soon as they walked into the room, Blaine turned and straightened Kurt’s collar. “I think you might like it here.” Blaine took his spot at the front of the Warblers and began to sing “Teenage Dream” very flirtatiously.

Kurt watched him and listened carefully. The Warblers were good – extraordinarily good. The New Directions had their work cut out for them to have a chance at Sectionals.

Blaine approached him again after they finished performing. “How about some coffee? We have a lunch in an hour. I’ll even go back down to the office with you and tell them that I’ll be your guide for the rest of the time you’re here.”

“Thanks. Coffee would be great.”

He apologized to the secretary for losing track of his first guide. She wrote up a new one and took the old one back. He took the new pass with Blaine’s name on it and went out to the Navigator to wait. He sat in the backseat and switched his jacket, shirt, and tie to a grey shirt and an unusual waistcoat he had created out of a gray wool jacket he had fallen in love with that was at least two sizes too small.   He left his satchel in the car, set his phone to silent, and put it in the waistcoat pocket. He waited in the vestibule for Blaine to return.

When he did, he led Kurt to a café. Two other Warblers were sitting at the table waiting for them. Blaine offered him a latte, which he accepted.

Blaine said, “This is Wes and David.”

“It’s very civilized for you to invite me to coffee before you beat me up for spying.”

Wes said, “We are not going to beat you up.”

David added, “You were such a terrible spy, we thought it was sort of endearing.”

“Which made me think that spying on us wasn’t really the reason you came,” Blaine finished.

Kurt stumbled and hesitated. “Can I ask you guys a question?”

They all looked open to answering him.

“Are you guys all gay?”

They laughed.

Blaine answered for the three of them, “Um, no. I mean I am, but these two have girlfriends.”

David said, “This is not a gay school. We just have a zero-tolerance harassment policy.

“Everybody gets treated the same, no matter what they are,” Wes said. “It’s pretty simple.”

Kurt sat there saying nothing.

Blaine said, “Would you guys excuse us?”

The other two stood.

Wes said, “Take it easy, Kurt.” before he walked away.

“I take it that your having trouble at school.”

“In a school of 750-800 students, my boyfriend and I are the only two openly gay students. Things have improved dramatically since a year ago, but this morning was just really frustrating. Two people, who I thought were my friends, said some really homophobic, well more specifically effeminophobic things to me. That’s how I ended up here, actually. Our director told us the names of the schools we’d be competing against at Sectionals. One of the guys told me to make myself useful and come spy on the Warblers. I know he thought that I wouldn’t. I’ve never skipped school before in my life. I had just had it. Our assignment was for the guys to sing something traditionally sung by women. I thought it was finally my turn to shine. I had costuming idea boards and songs picked out. They shot my ideas down after two sentences. I didn’t even get to explain anything. It just hurt and I got angry and left. My first year in high school the jocks all bullied and harassed the losers – which I am.” He told Blaine about the lawn furniture, the locker slams, the pee balloons, the swirlies and other things.

“That sounds horrible.”

“It was. But things turned around last year. This year we have a new football and hockey coach who has a no-bullying policy, so things aren’t like they used to be, but as I said, they’re not great still.”

They talked for a while longer, traded phone numbers, and tentatively agreed to meet up sometime before Kurt had to leave to get back to Lima and change before his shift at the shop started.

He texted Dave that he was on his way back before he pulled out of the parking lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this version of events, Sam is not currently dating Quinn. The issue of the boys and Tina using Coach Beiste as a libido inhibitor is not part of this storyline. That was so disrespectful, that it was intentionally left out.


	23. Chapter 23

Kurt drove home instead of going back to school. He wasn’t ready to face anyone there yet. He texted Dave to let him know that he was back. He changed into work clothes and read what he assumed would be the next assignment for US History and he read the next chapter in the French novel he was reading. At 2:45, he left and went to the shop to work his shift. Dave texted him while he was driving. He read it as soon as he parked.

\--I told Dad that you went home before school started and didn’t feel well. He called the school and told them you wouldn’t be coming.

Kurt responded.

\--Thanks for letting me know. I’ll tell him what happened when I get home tonight. Getting ready to go into the shop. I love you.

\--I love you too.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt walked in around 8:15. After he hung his jacket up, he went to find Paul first.

“I’m sorry, Paul. I’ve never skipped school before in my life. I was so hurt and angry that I knew that I couldn’t stay and be reasonable. I was just shocked.”

“Kurt, stop. I’m not angry. Dave brought all of your homework home. He’s in the kitchen making you something to eat. Go eat and do your schoolwork. I know you’re mad at Puck, but he’s here and he may want to talk to you. I’m not sure.”

“Okay. Thanks for calling the school so I won’t get in trouble.”

“You’re welcome.”

Kurt found Dave in the kitchen. He wrapped his arms around Dave from behind, and hugged him. “I didn’t mean to scare you or anything. I just couldn’t be there anymore.”

“I know.”

“I already talked to your dad.”

“Good. You’re food’s done.” Dave sat his plate on the island.

Kurt sat down and ate. “This is good. Thanks.”

Dave stood behind Kurt and rubbed his shoulders gently. “You’re welcome.”

“I met another out gay guy our age today at Dalton. His name is Blaine. He’s the Warbler’s lead singer. They’re good. Like ridiculously good. We’re going to have to get with it to have any chance against them. They sing a cappella and they have a beat boxer and singers that can imitate the sounds of the instruments.”

“Oh, man.”

“Yeah. Blaine gave me his phone number. I thought maybe we could meet up sometime. I thought it might be fun to get to know another guy that’s gay. I told him that you and I are the only two out gay guys at school. He got bullied at his previous school, but Dalton has a zero-tolerance harassment policy from what I was told. Sounds nice. Maybe we’ll get there at some point at McKinley. Once all of the seniors graduate, hopefully it will be just verbal stuff, which is hard to regulate no matter what kind of policies are implemented.”

“We can meet up with him some time. I’m not sure when. Dalton’s pretty far away to drive all that way just to stay a couple of hours and come back. I looked it up after you left. But maybe when we’re going to do something in Columbus, he could meet us and bring any other gay guys he knows with him or just come by himself, I suppose. Puck did say that COSI was really cool and we haven’t gone yet. Maybe we could do that or something.”

Kurt got up and put his dishes in the dishwasher and turned it on. “Let’s go up. I’m sure I have a ridiculous number of math problems to do.”

“At least your Spanish teacher let up on the worksheets.”

“That was a relief.”

When they got to the top of the stairs, Puck stopped them. “Can I talk to you, please?”

Kurt sighed, “I guess.”

Puck followed them up the stairs to their room. Kurt and Dave sat down on the futon. Puck grabbed the desk chair and put it in front of the futon and sat down. “So, I want to tell you something and I don’t want you to tell anyone else.”

“Alright,” Kurt said.

Dave said, “Okay.”

“Last evening when I got home from work, the police were waiting for me. I was taken down to the station and they attempted to process me for something I didn’t do. I asked for Paul as my attorney. Anyhow, my ma put some of the clothes from my closet on and did something illegal and it was caught on video. They traced the license plate from the security cameras in the parking lot to my ma. They went to the house. She let them in and up to my room to conveniently find the clothes from the video in my closet in a pile on the floor. They waited for me. Anyway, they released me to Paul until my temporary custody hearing. My ma’s in jail awaiting trial.”

Kurt tried to piece together what he said. “So, your mother committed a crime wearing your old clothes, let the police believe it was you, and now she’s in jail?”

“Exactly. And this morning, I was in a really fucking bad mood and I took it out on you. I’m sorry. You didn’t do anything to me. If you want to do whatever was on those boards, I’ll go along with it. And I won’t be a jackass this time.”

“I think we should all just refuse to participate. I don’t have time for this stuff during football season and neither do either of you. He assigns things that we work really, really hard on for no good reason. He’ll just declare it a tie again. This is a club, not a class. We need to spend the two hours a week we have to prepare for sectionals. The Warblers are going to wipe the floor with us. Just put aside any jokes you can come up with about it being a gay school or feathers or whatever. They are incredibly good. There are about 15 of them or so. Their lead singer is very charismatic. They sing a cappella. Beat boxer, guys doing all of the instruments with their voices – all on pitch. They’re amazingly good – like they could sell CDs good.”

“Great,” Puck said sarcastically. “Alright then, let’s get the guys together at lunch tomorrow and think up ideas for Sectionals instead of working on a mash-up for the dumb competition.”

Dave said, “Sure. We won’t say anything about why you were so mean this morning, but don’t do that again. If you’re mad, walk out. Go punch the punching bags in the weight room. Don’t take it out on a person. The new principal seems like he’s intent on doing his job. If Kurt had gone to Coach Beiste, she might have suspended you from the game Friday for lashing out at him. All I can say is that Kurt and I both know what it’s like for a parental figure to behave in ways that no adult should behave.”

“I know. I’ll do better. I just can’t fucking believe that I have to go to a custody hearing. I could end up in foster care at 17. I guess that is better than juvie if Paul hadn’t intervened.”

“Thanks for telling me. I have a bunch of schoolwork to do and I haven’t even started.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow at lunch.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After their lunch meeting on Wednesday, Artie stayed back to talk to Kurt. “I was out of line yesterday.”

“Yes, you were.”

“I didn’t want to do the mash-up. I thought it was stupid. I shouldn’t have lashed out at you. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry that you did it too. You of all people know what it’s like to be made fun of. I’m one of the few guys who has never hassled you and you treated me just like the guys that have harassed both of us. I accept your apology, but I’m not able to forgive you right now. What you did was uncalled for and unprovoked.”

“I know.” Artie left the choir room.

Dave stepped back inside the room. He went to where Kurt was sitting and leaned over and kissed him. “Let’s just eat here.”

Kurt nodded.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Thursday afternoon in Glee, the girls performed their rock ‘n roll mash-up. When it was time for the guys to perform, Puck stood in front of everyone.

“The guys didn’t do the assignment. Instead we came up with some ideas for Sectionals. We have it on good authority that the Dalton Academy Warblers will be every bit as hard to beat as Vocal Adrenaline. They sing a cappella in snazzy prep school uniforms. They have a beat boxer and guys who can sound like instruments.”

“How do you know that, Puck?” Mr. Schue asked.

“I’m not revealing my sources. Just believe what I say. We have five weeks before Sectionals and one of those is Thanksgiving week. So, our suggestion is that Quinn and Sam get featured in ‘Time of our Life’ since they won the duets competition. And then we sing “Valerie” with Mike and Brittany as featured dancers, rotating the other three girls on the lead for the song. The two things we have that the Warblers don’t are girls and people who can dance. We need to use that to our advantage. Quinn and Brittany didn’t get featured last year. We’ll work on something to feature more of the guys if we get past sectionals. Right now the guys are super busy with football since it looks like we’re headed into the playoffs again this year, and we have a better chance of getting farther this year. Sam’s on the bench for the rest of the season with his shoulder, so he’s got the time to rehearse with Quinn. Mike and Brittany can rehearse their featured dancing part on their own, whenever it fits into their schedule.”

“I’ll think about your suggestions. I guess that means the girls win the mash-off.”

The guys clapped for them.

Rachel spoke up, “Puck said the other three girls. There are four of us besides Quinn and Brittany.”

Mercedes responded. “Just because you started showing up again after _The Rocky Horror Picture Show_ fiasco does not mean that you are a member of the New Directions.”

“Seriously?” she asked.

“Seriously. We almost got disqualified over some stupid mattresses last year and Mr. Schue had to stop being our official staff sponsor. What do you think the Ohio Show Choir Board would do if they found out what you did? I want to compete. You blew that yourself by being greedy and self-centered. I don’t want disqualified.”

Rachel said, “So, I’m out permanently?”

Mercedes said, “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know who to call and ask, but I know who does know and she hates us. If you try to compete with us and she sees that, she could make sure that whoever needs to know will find out and the New Directions could get disqualified.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt had agreed to have dinner with Carole that evening. He didn’t want to talk about anything private in a public place, so he went to the house. The four of them ate quickly without much talking. Burt and Finn left to go see a movie. Kurt helped Carole with the clean up, and then they went into the living room to talk.

“I’ll start,” she said. “I don’t really know what to say. We started off on the wrong foot, and it only got worse from there. You gave me plenty of chances to get to know you, but I didn’t take them. I didn’t know how to deal with a teenager like you. Honestly, you’re infuriatingly right. I obviously had issues with you back talking, even considering it to be back talking, when you were stating the truth. I didn’t consider you an equal, but you are. You may be 17 now, which makes you a minor, but you’ve been an adult in behavior since before we met.”

“Given the people that Finn hangs around with, I can see how you would be prone to see people our age as children. Their behavior towards me was very childish and mean. You and dad expecting me to share a room with someone who had thrown pee balloons at me and who had harassed me all freshman year was absurd. But I did what I was asked. I made room for Finn’s stuff and I was hoping that he wasn’t actually homophobic since he had been the nicest of the bullies.”

“And I was wrong about that as well. The new counselor seems to be a much better fit.”

“I’m glad. You still haven’t told me why you wanted to talk to me.”

“Mostly just to apologize. While I was working on getting Finn to behave respectfully and treat you right, I failed to do the same. I love your dad and I should have gone to counseling with Finn or something. I stepped in and took your spot and didn’t give you the respect you were due. You had taken really good care of Burt for years. In my arrogance, I underestimated you. I’d like to find a way to get to know you better. I saw you last week with Paul and Judy and Dave. You’re so relaxed with them. You’re always so tense here. I don’t want that. I’d like to work on changing that. So, how about a shopping trip? I know it’s last minute and you have a game Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. We could go on Sunday. We can go to wherever you find the great deals – that’s somewhere in Columbus, right?”

“Okay. I will give you this chance to start fresh, but I need to be back by 5:00 on Sunday. Clearly my dad loves you and you already said that you love him. I’m going to move on with my life in a year and a half or so, and it won’t be in Lima. I want him to be happy. That’s why I tried so hard last spring.”

“I know. I was too biased and took Finn’s side. I didn’t know you and I didn’t realize most of Finn’s issues. His teachers never complained. He never got into trouble. I was blindsided with what you said and dug my heels in not wanting to believe what you said could be true. I know it took me far too long to realize it, and I’m sorry about that.”

“I understand that you were blindsided. Finn has mastered the art of staying off the radar. He’s just enough of a follower to go along with the bullying and just enough of a leader by default from being the quarterback that no one was willing to bully him. The teachers let him slide by without really learning the material. Everyone just gave him a free pass, including you. He snowed you into not making him do any work by doing it just poorly enough that you would have to redo it, causing you to spend as much or more time on it as you would have if you had just done it yourself. He’s like the master of doing nothing and getting away with it.”

“I know. And wow, the backlash that I got when I insisted. I thought he was an easy-going guy, but I saw a different side of him when I made him learn how to run a household over the summer.” She shook her head in aggravation. “At least does his required chores and makes dinner two nights a week now.”

“Does he blame me for having to do those things?”

“Actually I told him that I would have made him learn anyway because he can’t expect some teenage girl to be willing to marry him right out of high school and take care of him.”

“I see. Has my dad started to help out?”

“He’s been washing the dishes after meals with Finn. He’s also been doing the towels and sheets. I’m not trusting him with washing anything else yet. He’s also cooking two meals per week.”

Kurt raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

“Yeah. He’s learned the fine art of cooking frozen vegetables and baking chicken. He still grills some since it’s not freezing out yet.”

“It’s a start.”

“It is. I can pick you up at 8:00 Sunday morning. We’ll stop and get coffee at that place you like and then we’ll go shopping.”

“Alright. I need to get going then. I’ll have to stay up late to get extra homework done tonight with a game tomorrow and Saturday. I have ballet Saturday morning in Findlay too.”

“Your dad says you always talk about how much homework you have. Finn never seems to have much.”

“I bet he’s just not doing part of it. He knows that the teachers give the jocks passing grades no matter what. So, the 10% or 15% of the final grade that the homework counts for probably doesn’t matter to him. But to get an A in the class I need a 93% or higher. I can’t risk losing any points for failing to turn my homework in.”

“That makes sense, but I’m going to go in and talk to his teachers. They aren’t doing him any favors by taking it easy on him. Even if he gets scouted and gets a scholarship for playing football, he has to be able to do the coursework in college too.”

“I know. I really have to go.” He stood up and grabbed his coat from the coat rack in the entryway. “I’ll see you Sunday morning at 8:00.” He let himself out and drove home.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Saturday evening, most of the New Directions descended upon the Karofsky house for a party when the guys got back from winning the Regionals Quarterfinals game. Kurt showered again quickly, grabbed his school stuff from their room, slipped into the sewing room and locked the door. He put his earbuds in so he could attempt to block out the noise and focus.

At midnight, he finally went upstairs quietly and got in bed. He did his best to slip in without waking Dave up, but he didn’t succeed. Dave wrapped his arm around him and pulled him back against his chest and went back to sleep. Kurt closed his eyes and did his best to relax.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sunday morning Kurt got up at 6:00 to finish his French reading that he hadn’t managed to get done the night before. Once he finished reading, he got dressed. He left a note for Dave on his side table under his phone. Dave knew where he was going, but the note was just a sweet reminder that Kurt had not forgotten their Sunday evening plans and would be back on time.

Carole pulled up on time and Kurt got in. They went to the Lima Bean and got coffee on the way out of town. On the way there, Kurt got a feel for the types of clothing she was interested in getting and made a plan for where to take her.

He found that she was actually pretty funny and easy to talk to once Finn wasn’t the topic of conversation. They talked about TV shows and movies they both liked. By 2:00, they had found things that updated her style in a flattering way. While she was looking around in a jewelry store, Kurt excused himself to go to Harry and David to buy some things for Burt and Paul for Christmas again like he and Dave had done the year before. He also picked up a few things for Judy and Quinn.

They left the shopping area at 2:30 and stopped to have a late lunch at a Mexican place on the way back. While they ate, Kurt showed her some ideas of ways to get her hair cut, and suggested some red and dark blonde highlights. She liked one of the looks a lot and he sent her the photo. He told her about his plans to move to New York when he graduated and about visiting different schools and what he thought of them on the way back to Lima

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“All you bought was stuff from Harry and David’s for Christmas? I thought for sure you’d come back with something cool.”

“It wasn’t a shopping trip for me to buy stuff. I did get one extra Harry and David thing for us to split today.”

“Mmm. Sounds tasty.” He held out his hands and closed his eyes.

Kurt put a pear in his hand.

Dave laughed. “How did you manage to buy just one?”

“A couple of the boxes got damaged in transit and they were giving out samples from one of them and the other was up next to the register and they were selling them separately. I got us a Moose Munch bar too. Don’t worry.” Kurt kissed him.

Dave went to the kitchen, washed the pear, and cut it up. He fed Kurt half of it while eating the other half. “They really are amazing.” He washed his hands and put the stuff he had used in the dishwasher. He pinned Kurt against the counter where he was leaning and kissed him. “I made us sandwiches and some other stuff. I packed them in our backpack cooler and took it upstairs. I also baked the cookies to take to school tomorrow. I figured since the football season hasn’t ended, the guys are going to expect cookies tomorrow.”

“I hadn’t even thought about that. Thank you.” He wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck. “You’re so sweet.” Kurt kissed him. “I missed you. I kept remembering when we went over there together just the two of us. I’m 1000% ready for our time. Let’s go upstairs.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Tuesday morning before school started, Burt and Carole surprised Kurt and asked him to take them to Finn, which he did. Kurt noticed that Carole had gotten her hair done just like the photo. When the three of them walked up to Finn’s locker he looked both confused and embarrassed.

“Oh, what’s going on? Is this one of those interventions, ‘cause…?”

Kurt said, “If it is, it’s for the both of us. They bombarded me and forced me to bring them to you.”

Burt encouraged Carole, “Okay, come on, tell them.”

She started to argue.

He said, “No. We said in the car.”

“Come on, you,” she urged.

Finn was getting increasingly more distressed.

She said, “Please!”

“Alright. So, you know you how I drive Carole to work every Tuesday?”

Finn nodded.

“Well, today I drove here.” Burt moved and stood up against the lockers between Finn and Carole. “We snuck into that classroom where Kurt introduced us – very romantic of me, I might add. And I…”

Carole couldn’t contain her excitement anymore. “He proposed! He proposed!”

“You stole the punch line! Come on.” Burt leaned toward her and kissed her.

Finn said, “Wow. This just happened?”

Kurt took her hand and looked at the ring. “Oh, Dad.”

Carole said, “We wanted the two of you to be the first to know.”

Burt cut in, “Yeah, after the kids in that homeroom. Come on, family hug, huh?”

Finn looked like he’d rather be doing anything than participating in a group hug in the hallway. He barely participated, keeping as much distance between them and himself as he could.

Burt and Carole were both smiling and laughing.

“I’m so excited and … and nervous,” Carole said.

Kurt assured her. “Oh, don’t be. Don’t be.”

“Well, o...okay.”

“I have a box full of wedding magazines in the closet. How about a russet and cognac theme? Those are colors, Finn. Fall wedding colors. Autumnal.”

Finn looked less excited about Kurt working on the wedding than he did about the family hug.

“Nothing too extravagant, Kurt. We’re gonna use whatever savings we have – we are spending it on the honeymoon. That’s right. We are going to Waikiki. We’re gonna go to that hotel where they put up the guest starts from _Lost_.”

Carole was shocked and thrilled. “Finn, you – you haven’t said anything.”

“Um, I guess I’m just kind of stunned.”

“Hey, don’t worry. We’ve decided to start looking for a bigger house. One where everybody can have their own room.”

Finn looked at him even more confused.

Carole encouraged him. “Come on, honey. Be happy for me.”

Finn’s face didn’t match his words, but he did manage to say, “I am, Mom.”

Burt said, “Alright, now listen, Kurt, Mr. Wedding planner, I want you to take care of on thing. I don’t care about the food or the booze at this party, but I want one heck of a band. I’ve been eating right. I’ve been exercising and I wanna boogie with Carole at this wedding.”

That made Carole laugh.

He swayed his hips and moved his arms. “And I will boogie.”

“Alright. I’m going to hire the New Directions as your band. Right? It won’t cost you a cent. They’re cheap. They’re available. A Glee wedding.”

Finn seemed much more enthusiastic about the Glee Club singing at the wedding than he did about the wedding itself.

Once he got to his first period classroom, Kurt texted everyone to meet in the choir room at lunch, including Rachel.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“So, anyone who wants to sing as part of the group numbers that I’ve already chosen can do so, maybe 3-4 people per song. They’re listed on the white board. And then, we can have solos and duets. The songs have to be approved by me. Think about it and text me what you want to sing, up to three songs each since I don’t know how many people will want to sing solos and there may be duplicates. None of the guys have time to meet after school, but the girls could if the band is available. We’ll meet once as a group and have a full set rehearsal at our place the Sunday before the wedding.”

“What are we going to wear?” Tina asked.

“Something from the costumes that we already have. I’ll look through them. Maybe the girls can come with me during lunch tomorrow and we can see. And yes, Rachel you can do this with us. It’s not a competition.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Carole texted Kurt Wednesday morning gave him the date for the wedding. He was shocked to find out that they wanted to have it the day after Thanksgiving, which was in two and two days.

They looked through the dresses at lunch and found some nice black and white ones and another set of red ones. There were about ten of each of them in varying sizes. He had the girls try them on and find the ones that fit the best. He took one of each with him out to the Navigator to take to show Carole to let her pick.

“I’ll need half of you to come over on Friday evening, and the other half Sunday morning as early as possible so that I can get them altered. You can use the studio to practice or you can bring homework to work on in the dining room.”

“Kurt, I’ll help you,” Tina said. “How about we just do all of them Friday night? We can order pizzas and work on the choreography for Sectionals.”

“That would be amazing. Yes! Thank you. You can even get started before I get home if you want or maybe I can get Coach Beiste to let me leave early. I’ll talk to her. I’ll text everyone with a time.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Thursday before Glee rehearsal, Finn stopped Kurt at his locker and asked him a couple of questions before he said, “I really want to something special for the wedding, and I want to take this opportunity to sort of remind everyone that I’m, you know, a leader.”

“I have the perfect idea. After you walk your mom down the aisle, and give her away to my dad…”

“Incredibly creepy.” He started to walk away.

“And give your speech to the newlyweds, which I will write, although you are free to suggest overall themes, you and Carole will have a lovely mother and son dance in front of everyone.”

“No, that’s a terrible idea. Everybody knows that I’m the worst dancer.”

“Finn, trust me on this. I’ve been planning weddings since I was two. My Power Rangers got married and divorced in so many combinations that they were like Fleetwood Mac.”

“I guess if I could pull it off, it would make me seem like a cool stud.”

Kurt whispered, “Totally.”

Finn’s face brightened. “Thanks. It’s a plan.”

Dave walked up as Finn walked away. He reached out and got an armful of Kurt. “Mrff. What was that for?”

“For showing up when I need something to cheer me up.” He turned back around and shut his locker.

Dave leaned forward and kissed Kurt on the neck where no one could see. “Let’s get to Glee then. I’m not sure how cheerful that will be, but hopefully less annoying than whatever Finn had to say to you. Is he being more reasonable?” He took Kurt’s hand and they set off for the choir room.

“I suppose that depends on your definition of reasonable. He clearly doesn’t want to walk Carole down the aisle and give her away, so I need to cross that idea off my list before I see Carole tonight.”

They rehearsed the choir part of “Time of My Life” and all of “Valerie” since they were harmonizing a lot of doo doo doo doos throughout the whole song. When rehearsal was over, Kurt texted Puck and asked him to meet them at the Navigator.

Puck jumped in the backseat. “What’s up? You know I’ve got to be at the shop.”

“I’m cashing in a favor for turning the other cheek about the mash-up suggestions.”

“This sounds like something I’m not going to want to do.”

“Probably not. But today Finn came to me wanting to do something’s quote special unquote at the wedding to show everyone he’s a leader. I have no idea what in the hell that means. But as your penance for acting like a jerk about the feather boas, you get to figure out what that means because I don’t have time. I have a ton of other stuff to deal with. I can’t have him messing this up by doing something Finn-ish at the reception. I don’t want to be embarrassed or him to do something dumb. We all know he won’t listen to me, but he will still listen to you. Keep him from planning something stupid.”

“Got it. Make sure you write ‘Finn performs here’ on that wedding schedule, so I have some reason to ask him about it.”

“I’ll do that and bring it tomorrow morning and hand it out. Carole and I are finalizing it tonight anyway. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Him being a dick at your dad’s wedding isn’t on the agenda. I’ll make sure of that.” Puck got out and got in his own truck and left.

“That’s why you were so glad to see me.”

“It is.” Kurt leaned over the console and kissed him. “I need about a thousand more of those.”

“I’ll work on that later, Fancy.” He laughed. “Come here. A few more now and the rest later.” He leaned forward and met Kurt halfway for more kisses. “You need to drop me off and get to your meeting with Carole.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt pulled up in the driveway and parked. He grabbed the binders and waited for Carole to answer the door.

“Come on in.”

He carried everything straight to the dining room. He put his coat on the back of the chair and sat down. She followed him into the room and sat down next to him.

“So, I have the list of songs and the people offering to sing them on this page.” He slipped it out of the binder and put it in front of her. “I just need to make sure that you don’t hate any of those songs. And in the case of a song being under two different people’s names, you could let me know who you would prefer to sing it. Or I can just pick.”

“Okay. I got everything worked out with the caterer today. I know Burt said not to worry about the food, but it doesn’t work that way. I’m just going with the simple buffet of things that people actually like, meaning Italian. It’s just easier. So, as weird as it may seem, I’ve chosen Fazoli’s. Their breadsticks are actually good. And the other traditional caterers that I could afford were already busy catering Thanksgiving dinners. I was surprised, but they all said that quite a few families host meals on Fridays to accommodate for family members that go other places on Thursday. With only slightly more than two weeks before the date, my choices were slim, and this way at least I know the food will get eaten.”

“Alright, I’ll cross that off the list. Did you pick a cake?”

“I’ve narrowed it down to two. I’m going to show them to a couple of bakeries tomorrow and see what kind of quotes I get. I like them both and if one is half as much as the other, that’s the one I’m picking.”

“I forgot something. I’ll be right back.” He didn’t even bother with his coat. He ran out the front and brought the two dresses back in. “So, these are what we found in the costume closet. The white and black dresses are all identical to this one. Then there are a set of dresses this color, but each one is different.”

“Those are a little more red than the color we had been looking at, but when I went to the church, the table cloths they have available to use for no charge are about that color. I don’t think I really want the girls in white and black with the browns and reds we have for the flowers for the centerpieces. Let me go grab a set. I kept one set here for color comparisons. Velma came and picked up the rest to start working on the centerpieces for the head table.” She left and came back. “I have one of the cloth napkins from the church too.” She laid everything down on the table.

“Well, the dresses are a good color with the tablecloth color, and you’d save a lot of money by not renting table linens. I think even though the flowers are a bit darker, you’ve also got the russet and cognac to make them a bit lighter over all, so they look fine together.”

“I think the red dresses. The white ones are really nice, but those would look so much better with different flowers.”

“Yes. I’ll give you a few minutes to look through those songs. I need to hand out the list for those tomorrow so that everyone will have time to practice.” He pulled out his phone and texted Tina to take all of the red dresses with her the next day.

Once Carole had made her choices, Kurt put the sheet back in his binder. “This is what the schedule looks like right now. Do you see anything that you want to change?”

She looked through it. “I do have a question that doesn’t have to do with this. What should Velma and my best friend, Sheila, wear?”

“I think that’s up to you. They’re not part of the group that will be singing, so they could wear anything that looks good with your flowers. It’s an afternoon wedding, so I would say something below the knees, not floor length. It probably also depends on what they’re comfortable in. Quite a few women past 20 don’t like to be seen in sleeveless dresses.”

“That’s true, especially when there will be lots of pictures.”

“But they could wear a nice matching lace shrug. I think you just need to take the two of them shopping together in a regular store and let them find dresses that they like. Unlike _27 Dresses_ , it would be nice if they could actually rewear them. A nice simple-ish red dress can be worn for a lot of occasions. Christmas is coming up.”

“I’ll do that. We can meet up and just pick something. I already found a wedding dress. I’m going to have it fitted on Saturday. I’ll see if I can get them to go with me.”

“That sounds good. The two of you still want me and Finn to be the best men, right?”

“Definitely.”

“Go ahead and look through the schedule. Do you want the traditional processional up the aisle?”

“Actually, I’d like for Sheila and Velma to walk up the aisle in front of you and Finn. And once the four of you are in position at the base of the stairs, I’d like for me and Burt to walk in from the sides across to the center and then up the aisle together, just like the four of you will. We’re both adults. We’re choosing to do this. No one is giving me away.”

“That’s fine. We just need to tell the photographer.”

“I don’t really want the photographer in the way at all. I’m not some swooning 20-something year old that needs every step I take photographed. I think I need to sit and talk to him.”

“That sounds like a good idea. You already sent the invitations out, right?”

“I did. I had the envelopes already addressed and all I had to do was put the date in and print the invitations yesterday morning. The rest of this looks fine to me. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. When are you two leaving on your honeymoon?”

“Oh, we’re not going until the week after Christmas. We took the Friday after Thanksgiving at the church because there were no dates available on a Saturday until January and we wanted to get married before then. We’re just going to spend the weekend here by ourselves. Finn’s going to stay with one of the guys for the weekend.”

Kurt took the schedule and put it back in his binder. “I need to get going and do my homework. I think everything that I can do for now is pretty much done.”

“I appreciate your help.”

Kurt nodded as he put his coat on. He grabbed his binders and the dresses and left.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After the game Saturday evening, Sam was sitting in the second row on the bus, and caught Kurt’s attention to sit with him. Dave went on back a couple of rows in the bus and sat down by himself. Everyone else was still in the locker room.

“What’s up?”

“So, Quinn and I have been practicing after school.”

“Mmm hmm.”

“And she’s really sweet.”

“Mmm hmm.”

“And you two are like super close.”

“Right.”

“Do I stand a chance?”

“I’m not sure how to answer that. Quinn has big goals of going to an Ivy League school on the East Coast. She’s determined to get out of Lima. Unless, you’re interested in moving to the East Coast after we graduate, there’s not much hope of staying together.”

Sam nodded.

“You know she already had a baby and she’s absolutely not looking to repeat that. So, scoring with her, or whatever you want to call it, isn’t going to happen, like at all. There won’t be any ‘friends with benefits’ option. So, if you’re okay with casually dating someone with no real potential for getting laid or for it to continue past high school, then it might work.”

Sam just sat there thinking.

“There’s also the issue of Finn. They were dating when she got pregnant. He’s always felt like she was his and she was stolen from him. Despite the fact that she told him that it was completely over, he still has feelings for her.”

“So, if I ask her out, it’s going to piss Finn off.”

“Possibly, but more than likely, he will just ignore you.”

“He already does that. He told me not to sing with you.”

“Doesn’t surprise me. He told me not to sing with you.”

“Is that why you switched names with Quinn?”

“Yes. I don’t need any more conflict with Finn than I already have. I would have had fun singing with you, but you did a great job with Quinn. Mr. Schue would have never let the two of us be featured at Sectionals. So, it was better the way it was. The two of you sound good together. If you want to hang out with us more, that can happen without the two of you dating. I just wanted you to have the chance to make friends with whoever you wanted to. The football team may not be doing anything to me anymore, but the seniors on the team still dislike me for the most part. I don’t want to get into all of it. They value my ability to kick footballs to score field goals and bake cookies. Beyond that, I am not on their friends list. Actually it’s just the guys in Glee that are on the football team that have anything to do with me outside football games. About half are friendly-ish. The rest ignore me. It’s fine. It’s so much better than freshman year.”

“So, you think she’ll turn me down if I ask her out?”

“Did you not use the Breadstix gift certificate yet?”

“No.”

“Why don’t you try this? Go out, but as friends. Hang around with us. Get to know her better. See if you want to be friends with her. I honestly think that’s as far as you’ll get, although she might agree to a no-strings, social dating arrangement with you, making you her plus one to all paired social events. But that leaves you tied up with a ‘friends-only’ girlfriend and unavailable to any other girls who might be interested in something more serious.”

“I’m not sure I’m looking for serious.”

“Well, think about it. If you’re looking for a social dating arrangement with someone who will be willing to be sexually active with you, let me know. I know all of the Cheerios except the freshman. I can point out one of the nice ones that’s unattached.”

Sam looked confused.

“I was a Cheerio last year. I had a falling out with Coach Sue and quit after basketball season ended and I had fulfilled the obligations of the contract I signed.”

“I see.”

“If you date one of the Cheerios, you might be able to persuade her to join the New Directions and even out the group.”

Sam laughed. “Is that a request or a statement of fact?”

“It’s a true statement, but we do need a few more girls.”

“You know all of them. Go ask a couple of them.”

“I’m not high up on the social ladder. They won’t join for me, like they would for you.”

“Why doesn’t Finn just ask one of them out?”

“Ask him.”

“Right.”

“I’ll move now. I see the rest of the guys starting to head this way. You can think about what you want and let me know.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

Kurt got up and moved to sit with Dave. He texted Sam after he sat down.

\--Tomorrow?

\--Finn’s bday party? Bowling?

\--Wasn’t invited.

\--Sorry. I thought it was all the ND.

\--Probably everyone besides me and Dave. Doesn’t matter. Don’t worry about it. We already have plans tomorrow. Once we finish football, we’ll have Friday evenings or Saturday evenings free. You can hang out with us then, if you want.

\--K

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt sat down next to Dave. He took his phone back out and texted Burt.

\--We won. 28-21.

\--I know. I found a radio station playing the game. Good job.

\--Thanks. I need to talk to you. Can we meet tonight or really early tomorrow morning?

\--Tonight would be better I guess.

\--Fine. I’ll text you when the bus gets to the school. I’ll pick you up 10 minutes later. Should be at the school in an hour or so.

\--Okay.

Kurt put his phone away and took Dave’s hand. He traced patterns on his hand just barely tickling him he way he liked it. He leaned over and spoke directly into Dave’s ear, “I’m meeting Dad when we get back. See if you can ride back to the house with Puck. If not, I’ll drop you off, and then go meet Dad.”

“What’s going on?”

Kurt shook his head no. “Later.”

Dave nodded.

They rode back to the school tickling each other’s hands in silence.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt pulled up in the driveway and Burt came out and got in the passenger seat.

“Why did you want to talk so urgently?”

Kurt pulled out of the driveway. “Why are you deciding to buy a bigger house now?”

“Because I want us all to be together and be a family. You need your own room for that to happen.”

“What if I don’t want to move back in? I’m happy where I am.”

“Paul isn’t your parent.”

“I’ve lived there for the last nearly 9 months. Why change your mind about a bigger house now? And Waikiki where the _Lost_ guest stars stay?”

“Yeah, Carole said she’s always wanted to go to Hawaii.”

“That’s a lot of money.”

“It’s worth it to take a family vacation.”

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah, well, she and I had been talking about going somewhere the week after Christmas as a family and giving you and Finn a chance to get to know each other outside the influence of school. He’s been doing so much better. It seemed like Christmas would be a great time for us to work on bonding as a family.”

“You’re serious?”

“I am.”

Kurt pulled into the drive-thru and right up to the order board. “I’d like the 10-pack of soft tacos, please. Four beef, four chicken, two spicy beef.” He was given his total and he pulled around to the window. He paid and waited. Once he had the food, he pulled out and drove back toward the house.

“I’m not going on vacation anywhere with Finn and you and Carole only. Finn has no interest in anything except eating and something that involves a TV. No matter where we go, he will not put effort into exploring the area or getting to know me. He doesn’t really do the getting-to-know-people thing. His friends sit around and stare at the same screen he’s staring at. That’s it. They don’t read books, they don’t play any games except video games, the don’t watch the news, they don’t read magazines except possibly sports-related ones or porn, and their favorite topics of discussion are porn, sex, and sports.”

“So, you think if we take him to Hawaii, he’s sit in the hotel watching TV?”

“I think he’ll do whatever you tell him to do and when you don’t tell him what to do, he’ll watch TV or sit on the beach maybe.”

“So you don’t want to go to Hawaii?”

“Not with Finn as my companion. If it were Dave, I’d go in a heartbeat. But Finn won’t talk to me. We can do family bonding things, but the instant you and Carole go off to be alone, which is to be expected, Finn won’t talk to me. Flying us halfway across the globe and forcing us to spend time together will not make Finn want to be my friend. You should talk to him about this. Stop trying to surprise him. He’s not the kind of guy that enjoys surprises, unless the surprise is food that he likes.”

“He’s just doing so much better and she thought it would be fun for everyone.”

“I’m glad he’s doing better. I really am. But that doesn’t make me want to spend a whole week with him. Doesn’t Carole have some relatives in Zanesville? I think that’s what I’ve heard Finn say before. Drop him off there before you leave for Hawaii. Let him spend the holiday with his extended family. He doesn’t know we were going to go with you. He won’t be sad about what he never knew about.”

“I’ll think about it. I need to see if the tickets are refundable. And cancel the second hotel room. Carole and I have done a lot of talking. When you move back home, you won’t have a curfew. You can stay at Dave’s overnight, but only three times a week. The chores will be divided fairly. Finn’s learned to do a lot of stuff.”

“And on the other nights, does Dave get to stay with me?”

“No. That’s the one thing she won’t bend on. She won’t let a girl spend the night in Finn’s room, so she won’t let a guy spend the night in your room.”

“What about him spending time in my room alone with me?’

“Open door policy, like she would have with Finn if he had a girlfriend. And only when we’re home.”

“I see. And what happens if I don’t want to move in with the three of you?”

“I don’t know, Kurt. I’m trying here. I don’t know what else you want from me.”

“I don’t know what to say, but if this is how things had been initially, it might have been fine. But I don’t want to move back. I will always be guarded. Finn may have decided to act better, but I haven’t seen any proof that it’s for any reason other than because he’s being forced to. An open door policy means zero privacy. So, either you’re trying to prevent me from making out with my boyfriend of nearly 14 months or you don’t mind seeing us make out, even if we aren’t comfortable with people watching us. Would you want to leave your bedroom door open?”

“No.”

“Then why would I want to keep mine open? Dave and I have been together 6 months longer than you and Carole.”

“So, you’re having sex with him?”

“I’m not sure why that’s any of your business. Are you having sex with Carole?”

“That’s private.”

“It’s private for me too. I’m over the age of consent in Ohio. If I am having sex, I’m not breaking any laws.” Kurt pulled into the driveway.

“Think about it. I really want us to be a family. A real one.”

“You still didn’t say what would happen if I say ‘no’.”

“That’s because I want you to say ‘yes’ without some type of threat hanging over your head. I don’t want to threaten you to get you to come home. I want you to want to come home.”

“That’s not likely, but I’ll think about it.”

Burt sighed. “I’ll cancel the Hawaii stuff unless Carole still wants to take him, and then I guess we’ll just take him. But it’s damn disappointing. I thought things were getting better.”

“Dad, sometimes two people just don’t end up friends. Please stop making me feel guilty that he and I don’t get along. I’ve given him plenty of time. Pee balloons, Dad. Dumpster tosses. Locked in port-a-pottys. Maybe it’s easy for you to look past those things because you weren’t on the other end. But he’s not really sorry for what he did and he doesn’t really want to be my friend. It’s his life and his choices to make. Forcing him to spend time with me in Hawaii, or anywhere for that matter, will not make him like me. It just won’t. I’ll talk to you soon. I need to get home. I’m really tired.”

Burt got out, clearly unhappy about how the conversation had gone.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When Kurt went inside, he realized that Quinn, Judy, Paul, and Dave were watching a movie. Dave got up when Kurt looked in through the doorway.

“I didn’t know we had company. I’m sorry. I didn’t bring enough for everyone.”

“It’s fine, Kurt,” Judy said. “We had dinner earlier. I’m sure you two are hungry from eating light before the game and then expending so much energy. Quinn already had a snack. Go ahead and eat. You guys were great tonight.”

“Thanks for coming and watching us play.”

“Of course, honey.”

Dave took the bag of food so Kurt could hang his coat up. Kurt followed Dave into the dining room and they sat down and ate the tacos. When they finished, Kurt grabbed his duffle and they went upstairs. Kurt dropped the bag inside the door and locked it. He headed straight for the shower, grabbing boxer briefs on the way in. Dave followed along right behind him. When they got out, Kurt moisturized while Dave shaved. They went right to bed.

“Can I sleep on you?” Kurt asked.

“Always.”

They got comfortable and fell asleep almost instantaneously.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next morning, Kurt was finishing up the alterations on Quinn’s dress, which was the only one they hadn’t gotten finished Friday night. Puck knocked on the open door, came in, and closed it behind him.

“So, I talked to Finn about his ‘special performance’.”

“Okay.”

“You would have hated it. I told him ‘no fucking way’. He wanted to combine singing Bruno Mars ‘The Way You Are’ to Carole and to you. He wanted it to be this statement of how he accepts you the way you are now and how he’s not homophobic anymore, I guess. I told him that it was a love song and he could get away with singing it to his mother, but definitely not to you. He was going to dance with you.”

“Great. I told him there could be a mother/son dance if he wanted to do something special.”

“He wasn’t even going to change up the lyrics. I told him not only was it a love song, but that if he didn’t change the lyrics, he was calling you a girl. Needless to say, I convinced him to dance with Carole when he was going to start the dancing. The rest of us are going to be his back-up singers and dancers. Not you and Dave though. I also convinced him to ditch the stupid speech he was working on about how he had changed and now you were all going to be a family. I told him actions speak louder than words. So, that’s that. He’s going to rewrite his speech and let me see it again. If it has anything about you in it, I’ll veto it again.”

“I told him that I would write his speech. Ugh.”

“Well, he needs dance lessons on how to slow dance with his mom. Either you gotta teach him or someone else does.”

“Suggest Mr. Schue. He knows how to slow dance properly.”

“I’ll do that.”

“My dad and Carole are taking lessons to learn a dance, so that’s covered. I don’t want to be sung to at my dad’s wedding. Just PLEASE make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“Got it.”

“Thanks.”

Puck sat there and watched him work on Quinn’s dress for a while before he got up and went back across the hall.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Let’s go out,” Kurt said when he went back up to their room after he finished Quinn’s dress.

Dave put his book down, stood, up, and stretched. “Okay. Where?”

“How about to your grandparents. We haven’t gone back in a while.”

“That’s true. Let me get dressed.”

Kurt went in their closet and grabbed a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, a flannel shirt that matched it, and Dave’s nice brown boots.

“Nice choice.” Dave started putting the jeans on. He took the other things with him and laid the shirts on the bed and put the boots on the floor.

Kurt put on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, his penguin hoodie from the aquarium, and a pair of boots. “How about rather than any gifts for Christmas, we put our money towards a trip somewhere, maybe for a day or two?”

“Sounds fun. Where do you want to go?”

“I’m not sure. Just someplace fun with you.” Kurt ran his hands down Dave’s arms before he got a chance to get the flannel shirt on. I like late spring, summer, and early fall better now.”

“Why’s that, Fancy?”

“I miss seeing your arms.”

Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt. He picked him up of the ground and spun around in a circle before putting him back down. “You can see my arms whenever you want.”

“Not in school when you wear long sleeves all day.”

“I’ll be sure to show them off when we get home.”

Kurt kissed him. “I’ll look forward to that.”

Dave let his hands slip down and grabbed Kurt’s butt. “It’s only fair since I get to ogle your ass all year round.”

“Dave!”

He just laughed and kissed Kurt again. “I love you.”

Kurt sat on the bed to put his boots on. “I love you too. Get your boots on so we can go.”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Bossypants.” Dave stuck his tongue out.

Kurt stood up and pushed Dave so he was flat on his back. He straddled him and kissed him. “I’ll show you what I’ll do with that tongue if you stick it out at me,” he teased. He pressed in and licked Dave’s lower lip causing him to moan a bit and open his mouth just enough that Kurt licked his way in and began a playful tongue battle with Dave.

When they broke apart for air, Dave said, “That will only encourage me to stick my tongue out more frequently.” He pulled Kurt down flush against his chest and wrapped his arms around Kurt’s back. He began kissing Kurt again.

Kurt started kissing along Dave’s jaw and punctuated each kiss with a word. “We’re. Never. Going. To. Get. Out. Of. Here.”

“You’re the one that said you wanted to leave, then you pinned me to the bed and started kissing me, which I was quite enjoying.”

Kurt pushed up until he was sitting on his knees. “Come on. We’ll resume this later.”

“Something to look forward to.” Dave pushed up so that Kurt was sitting on his lap and kissed him again.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They started their week off with their Sunday evening alone time. The week went surprisingly smoothly. The Glee Club was making progress on their songs for Sectionals. Everyone seemed to be working on their solos or duets for the wedding. Carole got a baker to make the cake she wanted for a price she was willing to pay. Her attendants found acceptable dresses. The football team practiced. Kurt worked. He and Dave did their homework. Saturday night, they played in the Regionals Finals game and they won.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The following Sunday they had the musical rehearsal for the wedding and everyone’s songs were ready to go. Kurt did a little fine-tuning on the order and everything was set. Finn wouldn’t share what he was going to sing after his speech, but he had practiced with the band, so Kurt let it go.

The first three days of the school week went as usual. Wednesday after football practice, Kurt went to work. When Dave left practice he went out and did the shopping that still needed to be done for Thanksgiving.

When Kurt got home, he helped Dave and Quinn finish prepping things for the next day. They also did the baking. Kurt taught Quinn how to make a pumpkin pie. Dave made a pumpkin cheesecake with a spice nut crust. Once everything was put away, they went to bed.

Thursday morning Kurt and Dave got the turkey in the oven really early and went back to bed for a while. Judy arrived around 10:00 and started cooking the sides. Quinn helped. Kurt and Dave worked on the drop biscuits so they’d be ready to bake and put them in as they pulled the turkey out. By noon, everything was on the table and ready to eat.

Paul started slicing the turkey. Once everyone had some, they began to pass the side dishes around. After everyone had one they wanted, they started to eat.

Paul said, “I’m thankful for the four of you. Having all of you in my life makes it better.”

Kurt said, “I’m thankful for a second family. You made a place for me here in your home. I feel happy and loved here.”

“It’s been a hard year since last Thanksgiving,” Quinn said. “A lot of things that I would never want to go through again happened. But I’m thankful to be with my mom and with the three of you. I gained a new family too.”

Judy smiled, “You four have already said the same thing, but different ways. Given where things were a year ago, it is absolutely surprising how genuinely glad I am to get up and live each day and I have all of you to thank for that.”

Paul said, “I forgot to say how nice it has been to add new dishes and that Kurt has taught Dave and Quinn how to cook. I appreciate that.”

“Me too,” Judy said. “I’ve done less cooking in the last 6 months – that’s something for me to be thankful about.” She winked at Kurt.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Later that afternoon, Paul, Dave, and Kurt took a selection of the desserts they had made and went to Paul’s parents. Judy and Quinn went to Fannie’s house for dinner.

When Dave and Kurt got back, they showered and went to bed really early because Kurt wanted to go out to the Black Friday sales before they had to be at the church for the wedding.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When Kurt and Dave got back from their Black Friday shopping, Kurt quickly wrapped the indoor electric grill that he and Dave were taking as their wedding gift. They left the other shopping bags to deal with after the wedding.

They showered and got ready, but wore regular clothes because their suits were with the wedding party’s clothes that Carole was taking with her. They met the rest of the New Directions at the church at 11:00 to set up the reception hall. The tables had already been set up, so all they had to do was decorate. An hour later, they had all of the tables decorated.

Everyone left, grabbed lunch, and came back by 1:30. They spread out helping people find the restrooms and where to hang their coats. At 1:50, they sat in the next to last row on the far side of the sanctuary.

At 1:55, Velma and Finn were on the far side of the sanctuary at the back and Sheila, and Kurt were ready on the side closest to the main door. As the music started at 2:00, Velma and Sheila walked towards each other. Once they reached the center aisle, Finn and Kurt followed.   When all four were nearly at the front, Burt and Carole came in and they walked towards each other, and then up the aisle and stairs together. Once they were at the top of the stairs, they turned to face each other.

The pastor gave a short speech about finding love a second time. Burt and Carole exchanged their vows and rings. Once the ceremony was over, the photographer took some photos of the wedding party. The band entertained the waiting guests with instrumental songs. Burt, Carole, Finn, and Kurt stayed a little longer for a few more photos.

Once the four of them were in the reception area, Kurt and Finn sat at the head table. Burt and Carole took the dance floor and danced their first dance as a married couple while Mr. Schue sang “Sway”. Burt looked up a few times to get hints from Kurt when he started to forget what he was supposed to do. He managed to get through the whole dance and finish with dipping Carole. Everyone clapped. The two of them sat back down.

Next it was Kurt’s turn. He stood and started to speak. “I was there when my dad first saw Carole and his attraction to her was obvious from the moment he laid eyes on her. He asked her out and they went on their first date that very evening. My dad deserves all of the happiness and love. I’m glad the two of you found each other.”

Kurt sang “Sandy’s Song” by Dolly Parton because she was Burt’s favorite female singer.

_I’ll love you until green grass turns lavender blue_  
_And all of the stars fall from heaven and vanish like dew_  
_And when horses and chariots chase down the wind._  
_Well that’s when I’ll leave you. I’ll love you ‘til then._

Kurt could see the tears in Burt’s eyes when he sat back down.

Finn got up next to give his best man’s speech. “What I have to say is simple. I love my mom so much. She’s done everything she ever could for me and I’m glad that she’s found someone to spend the rest of her life with who loves her so much.”

He stepped back and music started. Artie, Mike, Puck, and Sam joined him. Azimio wasn’t in town. After the first verse, the girls joined. They sang and danced to “Just the Way You Are”. Kurt saw tears in Carole’s eyes, so the song and dance made just the right impression. When he got to the chorus again, Finn got Kurt to join them. The 12 of them danced around fairly randomly for the chorus. Finn started to walk back toward the table. Kurt imitated him. Finn got Carole to come out to the dance floor with him. Burt went with Kurt. They had a small father/son and mother/son dance before Burt and Carole moved to dance with each other again and the rest of the guests began to join them on the dance floor.

Everyone continued to dance for a few songs, while the caterers put the food trays out. The group slowly moved to the lines to get food and sat down to eat. While the guests and Burt and Carole ate, several of the New Directions performed love songs. Dave sang “The Very Thought of You”. Quinn and Sam did a reprise of “Lucky”. Finn sang “Faithfully” with Santana. And Kurt and Tina sand “My Sweet Love” by John Mellencamp bringing a big smile to Burt’s face. Kurt and Finn rejoined the head table after they got some food.

The rest of the reception consisted of people milling around talking to each other and more dancing to songs sung by members of the New Directions intermixed with some instrumental pieces.

The cake was brought out for Burt and Carole to cut. They fed each other bites, took their pieces and sat back down while everyone else got in line to get slices. Once the cake had been served, people began to stop by the head table to speak to them before they left. Quite a few people left cards in the basket Kurt had put on the table. He was glad to see that everyone, except him, had followed the ‘no gifts’ request on the invitation.

Once everyone had left, the New Directions stayed behind and cleared the tables that had dishes left on them. They picked up linens and put them in the area they were told to. Kurt had thought ahead and brought a box full of storage containers for the possibility of leftovers. He and Dave packed them up for Finn. Kurt packed up enough for Sunday dinner for himself and Dave and took it home with them. The caterers arrived soon after and cleared everything.

Kurt hugged his dad and Carole before they left. He and Dave took the food to drop off along with their gift on their way home.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt pulled into the driveway and parked to the side leaving Carole and Burt room to park if needed. Kurt carried their gift in and Dave grabbed the box of storage containers. Kurt unlocked the door. He put the present on the kitchen counter, and then helped Dave put the containers into the chest freezer that Burt had gotten to store Finn’s food in.

They were on their way back out with the empty box when Burt, Carole, and Finn arrived. Instead of leaving, they helped carry more things in. Once everything was in, they started to leave.

“Hey, Kurt. Hang back for a minute. I want to talk to you,” Finn said.

“Alright.”

“Come downstairs, okay?”

Kurt followed Finn downstairs. The layout of the room had been changed. Finn’s bed was along the wall to the right when standing at the bottom of the stairs. The head was to the left, against the short wall. It was elevated a little, and the bed that was supposed to be Kurt’s was underneath it. He had obviously had some welding work done on the frame because it had wheels.

Finn saw Kurt looking at it. “Oh, yeah. Cassius fixed up the other bed frame so it’s on wheels and slides in and out. That way it’s out of the way most of the time, but someone can still sleep over. My bed is an extra long mattress, so the other one fit easily underneath once they made my frame a little taller and the other one shorter.”

“That’s a good use of space.”

Finn’s desk was against the stairwell. He had the TV from their old house on the back wall set up with his gaming stuff with the folding couch that had been Kurt’s facing it. It was covered with a navy blanket. The layout gave the space a feel of separate areas for work, sleep, and recreation.

Kurt was still standing near the bottom of the stairs. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“I wanted to apologize. I was a real jackass to you after we moved in. You were right about me being a slob on purpose. It had the opposite effect of what I wanted though. I wanted my mom to let us move back to our house. There’s nothing wrong with this house, but I didn’t want to move. I was a real baby about it. All that stuff you said about me was true too. I just didn’t want to do any of that stuff. I don’t want to do schoolwork either. I don’t really know what I want to do other than chill and eat.”

“Alright.”

“I just want you to know if Burt goes through with buying a bigger house and you move back in with us, I won’t mess with your stuff or bother you. I’ll stay completely out of your room.”

“Thank you.”

“So, are you going to move back in with us?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Burt is really bummed that you don’t live here. I mean really bummed.”

“I know. And I like your mom. She’s nice. We get along fine, but I don’t know how to make it work living with her. I know you probably don’t understand, but I think I’m too old to get a new mom. Carole and I can be friends, but I don’t think I can be her child.”

“You’re right. I don’t understand.”

“Did you always want a dad?”

“Yes. I missed having what the other guys had. My mom’s great, but I missed out on playing catch and going fishing and camping and stuff. I liked the football team thing you set up both years because I finally got to do those things.”

“Well, I didn’t want a mom. I HAD a mom that I could remember. I wanted HER back, even though I knew it wasn’t going to happen.”

“I can understand that I guess. I remember my grandma, my dad’s mom, but she died when I was like 9 or 10. I never wanted a new one, but I did miss her.”

“So, you get it in a way. You and I were at totally different points in our lives last spring despite the fact that we are very close in age. While your mom babied you, my dad had a ‘figure it out yourself’ way of doing things. So, I got a step stool so I could reach things. I taught myself to do stuff based on what I had already learned from my mom. My dad loved me and he was there for me in a supportive way, but he didn’t do things for me.”

“I get that.”

“And with the mistrust between us based on your past behavior and then how you acted after you moved in, it just created a situation that I couldn’t live with.”

“What would you have done if you hadn’t been able to move in with Dave?”

“Honestly, I would probably just have relinquished this room to you and moved back into the small office upstairs until I pestered Dad enough to build an addition or buy a different house. I can’t share a room with someone who thinks I’m a creep and who can’t respect my wishes to leave my stuff alone.”

Finn nodded.

“I know you and the guys on the team think that Dave and I are creeps, but you all should consider what that says about all of you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You guys must think about sexually molesting girls all the time. The way you all talk sure makes me think that you do. Our culture says that talking about girls sexually is okay. It’s okay for a guy to detail what he would do to a girl he sees. A guy can talk about how he’d fuck her until she can’t sit down comfortably. How he’d bite her nipples, how he’d hold her down and do things to her. You all talk like that so much of the time.”

“It’s just talk.”

“It’s not. It’s sexually aggressive. You all ASSUME that Dave and I see all of you like a free meat market. Like we’d walk up to one of you and grab your dick or touch you provocatively. Unlike all of you heterosexual guys, if we talked about or even remotely acted out any of the things you all do to girls on a daily basis, we’d get the crap kicked out of us and the only reason you all get away with doing it to girls is because they’ve been conditioned to believe that’s just how guys are and most of them are too small to kick your ass.”

Finn just stood there.

“Just think about this. Just think about one time, any time, that you saw a guy doing things or saying things that were sexual to a girl who clearly wasn’t interested. Are you picturing it?”

“Umm. Give me a sec. Um, yeah.”

“So, replace whatever girl it is with Lauren. Do you think the scenario would have played out the same way?”

“She’d have punched him or kneed him in the groin or something.”

“Well, from now on, keep in mind that EVERY girl that gets treated that way WISHES she could make it stop like Lauren can. That fear you all have of me and Dave leering at you or lusting after you or actually touching you and molesting you… every girl and woman feels that way about guys who act like you all do. You’re afraid of having the things done to you that you all do to girls all the time. Maybe it’s time for that to change.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I can see that.”

“If you all are so bad at satisfying yourselves, you should just order Fleshlights.”

“What?”

“Look it up. Get one of the seniors to order them for all of you. Get a PO box or something for a month. Get a prepaid Visa that you all pay for.”

Finn looked lost.

“It a sex toy, Finn. Like having sex with a girl without having to get an actual girl to have sex with you. All the fun – no commitment, no pregnancies.”

“Oh.”

“Flesh – like skin. Light. They look kind of like big flashlights.   Thus, the play on words.”

“Got it.”

“Look. I accept your apology, but actions mean more than words. Forgiveness comes in time and with true changes. Stop acting like I’m the weird one because I know how to be an adult and because I’m in love with a guy. Maybe we can be friends some day, but that depends on you.”

“So, you’re not going to move in with us?”

“I don’t have any plans to, but I am 17 like you and Dad has the ability to force me back. If he does, I will move back. I don’t want to be declared a runaway or something and put into foster care. I’d rather sleep in the back of my Navigator in the garage.”

Their names were called from the top of the stairs. Finn grabbed his duffle and followed Kurt up the stairs.

“We’re getting ready to leave to go out for a while. We’re going to open Kurt and Dave’s present before we go,” Carole said. She ripped the paper off.

“Oh, wow. An indoor grill,” Burt said. “That’s nice.”

“Carole told me that you’re learning to cook and we thought this way you’d be able to grill indoors all winter.”

“It’s great,” Burt said. “Thanks.”

Carole agreed. “It is really nice. It doesn’t look too hard to clean either.”

“Well, I hope it works well for you,” Dave said. “We’ll get going. Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” Carole said. “The whole thing was great.” She turned to Kurt. “You did a great job on everything, honey.”

“I’m glad you were pleased with the results.” He hugged both of them and followed Dave outside.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“I apologized,” Finn said. “He still said no. I really screwed it up. He said he accepts my apology, but forgiveness comes with changing or something like that.”

Carole said, “It means he knows that you know that what you did was wrong, but he’s waiting to see if you actually change how you act from now on.”

“He said that maybe we can be friends some day. I don’t think he means any time soon.”

“Well, you were involved with a lot of terrible things. How long would it take you to forgive him if the roles had been reversed?”

“I’m not sure I could.”

“Then, there you are. But you need to know that you are not 100% responsible for this. Yes, your actions caused problems, but Burt and I should have sat down and talked to the two of you separately to find out what your thoughts were on all of us living in this house. We would have quickly realized that reasons Kurt gave were valid and we could have stayed living in separate houses until we worked through a lot of the issues, and then we could have looked for a bigger place. We jumped the gun, but we can’t change that now. We have to go forward. You can start to treat him like you’d want to be treated.”

“He said something about not needing a mom and that living with you is not really possible because he’s not a child or not your child or something.”

“He and I have talked, Finn. You still need more guidance and to learn more things and I have refused to give him all of the freedom he is used to, so he doesn’t want to move back and have to live under rules that he doesn’t feel like he needs.”

“So, it is still my fault. If I’d grow up and not be childish, he’d move back because I wouldn’t need rules.”

“Sort of, but not exactly. It involves what he had said before. Even if you’re doing some of the chores and doing your homework, which we already discussed that you haven’t been and how that will be changing, it’s back to that discussion we had about you paying for your own stuff. It really isn’t fair that I pay for all of that stuff for you and Burt doesn’t pay for any of it for Kurt. If he’s living a mostly adult life by paying for his own insurance, gas, food, and stuff, then he really shouldn’t have to live by rules designed for non-independent people.”

“So, if I got a job and paid for all of that stuff myself, he’d move back?”

“Only if you treat him decently and I lift the ban on sleepovers with whoever you two are dating. And I’m not willing to lift that ban.”

“Oh, so like if I had a girlfriend, she’d be able to spend the night in my bed in my room? But you won’t agree to that.”

“Exactly.”

“Okay, well, I feel less bad then. It’s not just me doing something to make him not want to move back. So, if he’s not going to move back are we still going to get a different house?”

Burt said, “I want him to move back home. I don’t know how to make that happen.”

“You could buy a house with an apartment upstairs or downstairs or next door like those double houses – a duplex. And then when he moves out and goes to college in New York, I could move into it.”

“Interesting idea. I’m not sure how it would work since he’s not 18.”

“I’m going to get going,” Finn said. “We’re all going to play _COD_ and I’m running late. I’ll come back Sunday evening like you said.” Finn grabbed his coat and put it on.

Carole reminded him, “Don’t cause trouble for the Changs.”

“I won’t.”


	24. Chapter 24

Saturday morning Quinn and Kurt didn’t have ballet class since it was Thanksgiving weekend, which was helpful since the Titans had practice from 10:00-noon. And then they had a break for lunch before boarding the bus to Columbus for the State Semifinals. As always, Kurt and Dave were the first out of the locker room. Kurt drove them to a wooded area where no one would be since it was so cold.

“This is the wrong way to any restaurants.”

“We’re not eating in a restaurant.”

A few minutes later, he pulled into an area for overflow parking that wasn’t even paved. He cracked the front windows just a bit.

“Put the backseat down on your side and get in.”

By the time Dave got in, Kurt was using a beach towel to hang over the front seats to cover the gap between them so no one could see into the back.

“What are you doing?”

“Hopefully, seducing you soon.” He hit the lock on the remote. And crawled over to where Dave was sitting and pointed to the pillows he had put in the back along with their backpack cooler.

“Mmm. Well, I’m all for that.”

“I figured you might be. Lie back.” He didn’t wait and started kissing Dave and climbed into his lap and pushed him back and continued to kiss him. He slid one of his hands up under Dave’s shirt and ran his fingers through his chest hair while kissed up the side of his neck. “I’m already so worked up. God, you’re so hot.”

“If you’re that worked up, how about I take care of you first and get myself as worked up as you are?”

“Yes, please.”

A little bit later, after Dave had caught his breath, he asked “How did you manage to pack all of this without me knowing?”

“I woke up really early this morning and couldn’t fall back asleep, so I went downstairs quietly and got everything together. And it’s so cold outside, I just put it in the Navigator then. I was concerned that it might actually freeze in here, but it didn’t.”

“Well, thank you. I’m pretty sure I’ve found my new favorite type of lunch.”

When they had finished eating, Kurt leaned forward and kissed him. “Interested in a second round?”

“Sometimes you ask silly questions.” Dave moved closer and began kissing Kurt.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After their amorous rendezvous in the back of the Navigator during lunch, Kurt was still too sated and happy to care what anyone on the football team thought and when they got on the bus, he sat down next to Dave, lifted his arm and curled into his side, and snuggled up with him. Dave smiled and happily pulled him closer and kissed him on the top of the head. Kurt managed to discretely get his hand up under the edge of Dave’s shirt and caress his skin with his thumb.

Kurt stayed nestled up on the hour and a half ride to the stadium. They got off the bus first and headed in to change while the rest of the team unloaded the bus. Since they were alone in the locker room, Kurt took the opportunity to kiss Dave before they started to change.

“I love you.”

“I love you too. Is something bothering you? You’re being quite public with your affection today.”

“Football is stealing my Saturdays with you, but I decided not to let it steal me letting you know how I feel. Unless, I’m embarrassing you or you want me to stop for some other reason.”

“You’re not embarrassing me. You’re just usually the one that’s more hesitant, always concerned about stepping out of bounds. I’m not complaining, not at all. I love you and I’m fine with people at school knowing. But I think once we leave the locker room in uniform, we need to tone it down so that no one on the opposing team targets you specifically during the game. I love you so much and I want to go home with you in the condition you’re in. No broken bones or bruises.”

“Okay.” He gave him one more quick kiss before the rest of the team came barging through the door.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The team celebration for Kurt and Dave was short-lived because they left as soon as they could after making a brief appearance at the party at Strando’s house. They arrived back home to find that Burt’s truck was parked in the driveway. Kurt put his index finger to his lips. Dave nodded. They got out and they closed the doors quietly, leaning against them to latch them. Kurt walked around the back of the house to the patio. He saw the light on in the dining room. He walked along the house and eased himself over the retaining wall around the patio and stood as close to the door as he could.

“You haven’t said a single thing that has made me want to change my position, Burt.”

“He needs to be living with me. I’m his father.”

“His father who chose a woman over him. He has been nothing but kind and loving and understanding. He knows that you were alone, but after he found love himself, he realized how much that means in more than a theoretical way. And even if he hadn’t, he would have still put your happiness above his own. How long did he protect YOU from knowing what they other guys did to him? He doesn’t want you to be lonely and he helped plan your wedding. He put a lot more effort into it than you did. He stood up and said how happy he was for you.”

“Finn’s not going to act the way he used to anymore. He’s not like he was before.”

“Or he’s learned to hide it better.”

“Why are you so negative?”

“Kurt’s happy. Why do you want to change that?”

“He’s my son.”

“Well, that’s one point we can agree on. But you agreed to let him be his own man. He works. He pays for his own stuff. Do you want me to charge him rent to give him the full adult treatment? In all honesty, you should be paying me child support. But I haven’t asked for a penny from you because Kurt is supporting himself. I don’t even need Kurt to pay for what he’s paying, but he’s hardnosed and won’t agree to let me cover all of the groceries. I didn’t even now he WAS paying anything towards the groceries until not that long ago. He’s been paying in cash, and then Dave puts the rest on the card I gave him for household expenses.”

“He left of his own free will. I didn’t contest that he was here with you because there was no way to work it out at home. But there will be and I want him home.”

“You think about that carefully, Burt. You agreed to let him be his own man. What will that make you if you go back on your word? What will happen to him if he refuses? Are you going to involve the authorities? What will happen to him in foster care? How many open-minded foster families in this area do you think there are? There aren’t even that many foster families in this area that take teens, and the ones who do already have more than one. Is that what you really want? Kurt is an amazing, sweet teen, who is nearly an adult. Are you willing to risk him being abused by homophobic males in a foster family that could be in Columbus or Dayton or Toledo?”

“No. God, NO! Why won’t you just support me in asking him to move home?”

“Because I’m a man of my word and I told him he’d have a home with me and Dave, even if he and Dave broke up. I’m not going back on that. End of answer.”

Kurt had heard enough and he nudged Dave to go back toward the front. Once they got around front, they grabbed their duffles out of the back. Kurt walked up to the door, put his key in, and opened the door as if nothing was out of the usual. Once they were both inside, Kurt locked the door behind them. They put their bags on the floor near the stairs to take up later and hung their letter jackets in the coat closet. Kurt and Dave went through the dining room since it was the only way to get to the kitchen.

“Hey, Dad. We won again. Next weekend is the State Finals.”

“I heard on the radio. Congratulations, kiddo. That’s great.”

“Why aren’t you home with Carole?”

“I wanted to talk to Paul for a bit.”

“Okay.” He opened the fridge, pulled some stuff out, washed the vegetables, and started chopping them.

Dave grabbed a second cutting board and started chopping as well. Kurt took the lid off the bowl of chili he had pulled out and put it in the microwave. He pulled out two large bowls and he and Dave divided up what they had chopped up between the two bowls. When the microwave dinged, Kurt took the bowl out and stirred it. He poured half of it on each salad. Dave sprinkled some shredded cheese over the top. They put everything they had used in the dishwasher. Kurt carried their bowls to the table and Dave brought in two glasses of water.

“So, has that recruiter been out to see you this season?”

“There’s been more than one recruiter that has talked to me. I took the information they gave me and then called the schools and got information about how much of a time commitment playing football is.”

“I see.”

“Look, Dad, I know you’d like it if I played college football, but not a single place I’ve called has given me answers that fit my plan. Some of the schools do offer a major that I would want to pursue, but I don’t see the point in devoting 30-40 hours a week to football. It’s not something I want to pursue professionally. And while I understand that I will have to work while I’m in college, I’m still not convinced that spending that much time working out, practicing, traveling, attending whatever it’s called when they learn the plays, and playing in the games is what I want to do. The cost of out-of-state tuition and the tuition at private schools probably justifies the level of commitment they expect from the student athletes that receive scholarships, but I think I can find a school that I can afford to pay for on my own for half the cost while working half the number of hours so that I actually have time to do something besides go to school, do schoolwork, work, and sleep. With a regular job, I can work extra hours all summer, and then work fewer hours during the school year. With football, it wouldn’t be like that.”

“Alright, you’ve made your point.” Burt said. “I want you to go look at a few houses with us tomorrow afternoon.”

“How late?”

“I’m not sure, why?”

“Because we already have plans at 5:00 that I’m not going to change. We’ll go with you, but we need to be back by 5:00.”

“Dave doesn’t need to come.”

“If you’re specifically asking him not to come, that doesn’t change my need to be back here at 5:00.”

“I’m going to go and let you eat the food you made. Congratulations on making it to the State Finals.” Burt stood up and clapped Kurt on the shoulder.

“Thanks.” Kurt picked his fork up and took a bite, although he no longer had an appetite. He knew he needed to eat.

“Be at the house at 2:00.”

“Text the address of the first house to me. I’m not going to ride with you and get stuck and not make it home at 5:00.”

Paul got up and walked Burt to the door and locked it after he left. He came back into the dining room and sat down.

“Thank you,” Kurt said.

“For what?”

“For not going back on your word.”

“Oh. You’re welcome.”

“I’m sorry you keep getting put in the middle. There are days when I wonder why I bother. Some days, I feel like I should just go back and just deal with it. It wouldn’t kill me. It would just be frustrating. But I’m hurting him and that’s hard on me too. At least if I went back, it would just be one of us hurting.” He got up and got a storage container. He put the rest of his salad in it and put it in the fridge. He went upstairs afterwards.

He took pajama pants into the bathroom and got in the shower. When he finished, he did a quick moisturizing routine, and dried his hair. He tossed his football sweats in the laundry, turned some music on, and left one lamp on next to the futon. He got in bed, covered up, and closed his eyes.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave stayed downstairs and let Kurt have some space. He finished eating, put his dishes in the dishwasher, and turned it on. He went back in the dining room and sat down.

“I don’t know what to think, Dad. He’s so happy here, except every time Burt asks him to move back he falls into this funk. He’s torn. I don’t know what to say. If we were 18 already, I’d honestly probably just ask you for the money to help us find the cheapest place anywhere in the state of New York to live until we graduate. That way we’d both get in-state tuition and Kurt wouldn’t feel torn about all of this anymore. Burt’s wearing him down. I can tell. At this rate, he’s going to give in and move back.”

“I don’t know what to say either, Dave. But I’m on shaky legal ground. The instant Burt says that Kurt has to move home, he can’t stay here. I don’t have any legal ground to argue on. Burt doesn’t mistreat Kurt. There’s nothing that would hold up in court. Kurt’s here because Burt was okay with it. Now that it sounds like he’s not, I think the clock is ticking.”

“I get that he wants Kurt to live with him. I really get that because I want Kurt to live with me. I love him. Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Are you and Judy serious or is this just a casual, mostly friendly dating? Do you love her? Are you going to go back to Mom after I go to college?”

“I’m not going back to your mom. She and I have irreconcilable differences. Judy and I are serious. Yes, I do love her. It’s different with her than it was your mom. All relationships are different. Judy is more reserved. Russell was an overbearing man and he was the only guy she had ever dated. He married Judy because she was the ‘right’ type of girl. I can’t say whether he ever really loved her because I don’t know him personally. He and I were never friends. But I’m sure you’ve seen the change in her demeanor. Playing a role for 30+ years makes it hard to know who you are behind the mask. And committing to another marriage isn’t something she’s ready to do right now, but that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t love me as well. She just needs time. Her family disowned her for divorcing Russell. She has Frannie and Quinn still, but that’s it. So, it’s just complicated.”

“But you do think you’ll get married in a couple of years or something?”

“I’d like to. Would that bother you?”

“Not like I thought it would. A little over a year ago when Mom left, I wouldn’t have imagined you remarrying just because I had only ever see you two together. But you and Judy seem to get along well. And I have seen a difference – in her and Quinn both. The first time I met her, she was really made up. Almost like some of those women I’ve seen pictures of from 80’s nighttime TV shows. She had big hair, lots of make up, and she always had on heels and a dress. But now, she wears … well … she still wears dresses a lot, but they just seem less formal. And she’s cut her hair and re-dyed it back to its natural color, which looks good on her. I’m not sure how to say it without sounding mean, but she looks more real.”

“I understand. She’s more comfortable now. She grew up being made to wear dresses, so she feels a little strange in pants, but she’s getting used to it.”

“I’m glad you found someone who loves you. That was the second hardest thing about coming out. Me losing Mom and knowing that you would lose the person you had chosen to spend your life with because of me.”

“I’m not going to lie and say that it wasn’t hard because it was, but her beliefs had driven a wedge between us over the years and we weren’t close like we had been when we were younger. This may sound awful, but in a way you coming out gave her an out, a reason to leave me that her church would accept. She had been told that it was her place to stay and pray for me until I saw the light and came back into the fold. Me siding with you gave her an out.”

“I guess that makes sense in a weird way. Do you think Judy should have dated other guys and not married the first person she dated?”

“In her case, I don’t know how much it would have mattered because her parents would have only approved of someone like Russell. So, I think she would have just ended up with someone similar unless she had been willing to break free after she got out of high school, but you heard what she said about how long it takes some people to see the error of their ways. When your whole family is a certain way, that way is THE way. But if that question was a roundabout way of asking me if I think you’re making a mistake in wanting to be with Kurt, I don’t think so. He’s genuinely more himself around you than he is around anyone. He lets down his guard around you, rather than putting it up to present some more acceptable version of himself. That was one of the first things I noticed a year ago. He willingly let you see the real Kurt.”

“I feel like the real me around him, but Burt makes me tense. He didn’t used to, but he does now.”

“I think that’s because he’s tense now. When it was just the two of them, Burt was more relaxed because it was how things had been. Even though being a widower with a child had been hard, they had reached an equilibrium. Throwing Carole in would have been fine. I think that Kurt and Carole would have bonded and worked out their differences in cleaning products and whatnot by the pureness of Kurt’s reasons and his willpower. But Finn is what caused the gears to stick. And he’s not going anywhere.”

“Kurt says he’s better than he was, which is good. I nearly popped him at the lake that day.”

“I know. If you had, I would have given you a half-hearted mini-lecture of how violence isn’t the answer.”

Dave laughed momentarily, but went back to being serious. “Do you think I’m deluding myself to think that Kurt’s the one for me?”

“I don’t have a crystal ball. I’ve lived long enough to see someone I loved change into someone very different from the person I fell in love with. But I don’t think you’re deluded. I think you’re in love and I don’t see it as some type of ‘puppy love’. You two are good together. If one of you decides that the only career you can be happy with is one in Wyoming on a ranch and the other decides that New York City or Paris or Chicago is the only place you can live happily, then that will be a problem. That’s the only real downside I see to the two of you being so serious so young. You still have a year and a half of high school and four years of college to work something like that out, but your lives are very narrow right now and going to college will expand your options, both educationally and career-wise, but you’ll also meet a lot of people. You two won’t be the only out guys your age in college. The test comes when you have hard career decisions to make and there are attractive gay men who are more interested in your career choice and desired living area. Are you going to be willing to put in the effort to come to some sort of compromise with Kurt or are you going to bail and date someone whose life goals are more aligned with yours? I’m not saying that’s where you’ll end up in four or five years, but I’ve seen it happen. I’ve seen guys take the only job they could get in their field and leave behind the girlfriends who didn’t want to go where they were going.”

“This may sound simplistic or naïve or whatever, but I’d rather have Kurt and a less prestigious job than have whatever I would consider to be the perfect job and not have him.”

“And I’m happy for you. I really am. I hope that Burt lets him stay. We’ll just have to see. Are you going to go with him tomorrow?”

“Burt obviously doesn’t want me to. He just wants it to be the four of them. I won’t ask to go, not because I don’t want to spend time with Kurt, but because I don’t want to cause him any more stress. I’ll probably bake the cookies for Monday again. No one seemed to notice when I did it before.”

“What do you two have planned for 5:00?”

“Oh, it was something Kurt came up with. It’s just down time for the two of us. With football, Glee, homework, ballet, me training for hockey and him working, he thought we needed a set-in-stone uninterrupted down time each week where we tell everyone ‘no’ and we recharge. No schoolwork, no chores. We were running into things getting added to our schedules all the time and then squishing stuff in last-minute on Sunday evenings. It was a stressful way to start the week off. I really like this new plan.”

“That’s a really good habit to get into. Everyone needs a break sometimes and we let ourselves get too caught up in having so many things to do. Good for you two.”

“I’m going to head up.”

“Congratulations. Next weekend will finally end the football season, win or lose.”

“But unfortunately with us making it this far, hockey practices start next week, so there’s no break.”

“You’re sure you want to play?”

“I do. I love playing hockey. I’m going to go before we start talking again. He probably went to sleep already. He was really tired.” He stood up and pushed his chair up to the table.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave jumped in the shower and shaved before he turned off the light got in bed. He thought that Kurt might be asleep when he came in, so he had been extra quiet in the room, but once he lay down he realized that Kurt wasn’t asleep because as soon as he was fully under the covers, Kurt scooted back a little and reached behind him to encourage Dave to turn on his side and snuggle up.

Dave scooted up behind leaving no space between them and wrapped his arm around Kurt and slipped his other arm under Kurt’s pillow. He kissed his shoulder.   “I love you.”

Kurt took Dave’s hand and kissed his knuckles. “I love you too.” He ran his fingertips along Dave’s bare arm. “Do I manipulate you? Do I make you feel like I’ll love you or like you less if you don’t do what I want? Be honest. I’ve been thinking the whole time I’ve been up here.”

“What would make you think that?”

“Because you love me so much. You don’t do things that you don’t actually want to do just because I want you to, do you?”

“I feel like you’re being vague when I need you to be more specific. Every person in a relationship does things they don’t want to do because they love their partner, but not necessarily in the way you’re thinking. Like insignificant stuff. I might not be the least bit interested in eating spaghetti on a particular night, but I’d eat it anyway because you’ve made it. And because I love you and I wouldn’t even consider complaining and upsetting you in anyway over something as stupid as eating spaghetti when I’d rather have a burger.”

“I’m thinking more along the lines of our schedules and unplanned stuff. Whenever I come up with an idea that changes our original plans, you just go along with it. Do you do that because you actually want to do whatever it is that I came up with or do you do it specifically because you don’t want to upset me? Sometimes I’m silly and I bat my eyes and beg when you don’t look all that interested in my idea. I need you to be honest. Are you giving up what you want to make me happy?”

Dave scooted back and lightly pulled on Kurt’s shoulder and rolled him onto his back. He got up on his hands and knees and crawled over Kurt and straddled him. He leaned down and propped on his elbows. He kissed along Kurt’s jaw before he pressed his lips to Kurt’s. They kissed for several minutes. Dave pushed back up into sitting and ran his hands down Kurt’s arms. When he got to his hands, he interlaced their fingers. “I love you and you love me. And I know you well enough to know when you are teasing me and when you’re not. When you’re teasing, sometimes I tease back. You’ve always seemed to know that it was a game between us. You say ‘let’s go hiking’ and I look unconvinced. You flirt and kiss me and bat your eyes or tackle me or tickle me or whatever and I look less unconvinced. And we horse around until I agree, with me usually getting a lot of attention from you in the form of kisses and physical affection. It’s always been a game that I thought we were both playing. You knew I would say ‘yes’, but I feign disinterest so you will convince me with kisses, which I enjoy so much.”

“Okay.”

“I can’t think of a specific example of when you’ve asked me to do something with you that I really didn’t want to do where you ACTUALLY tried to manipulate me into doing whatever it was.”

“Like today at lunch. I didn’t ask you if you’d feel comfortable going into the woods and blowing each other in the back of the Navigator. I just packed lunch, drove you out there, and practically molested you.”

“You didn’t practically molest me. I actually thought it was really hot. You love me and find me attractive enough that you were all hot and bothered and it was steamy and sexy and I loved it. And it would be pretty hard to molest me given how much I want you like 24/7. At any point during any day or night, if you wanted to make out, I would be in favor of that. I am 100% willing. And I have no doubt that if I ever said ‘no’ or ‘not right now’ that you would stop.”

Kurt nodded. Dave could just barely see his face in the moonlight coming in through the windows.

“What’s got you so concerned that you’re having crazy thoughts that I wouldn’t be all for sexy picnics and blowing each other? If we could away with it, that would be my preferred way to spend every lunchtime.”

“It would, would it?”

Dave leaned forward and kissed Kurt breathless. As he kissed down Kurt’s neck catching his breath, he said, “Absolutely.” He kissed his way back up to his ear and licked at the outer edge. “You’re so fucking sexy, I have a semi almost all the time you’re in the room with me. You look at me from across the room or the hall and wink and I have to seriously focus on not going full mast.”

“Really?”

Dave pushed back up to sitting. He ran his hands along Kurt’s shoulders and down his arms again. “Yes, really. I find you incredibly sexy. Your mind, your body, your voice, the way you move. Everything.”

Kurt reached up and grabbed Dave’s shoulders and pulled him down. “Do you still have some sort of mixed up notion that I don’t feel that same way about you? Because if you do, I need you to tell me how to get rid of it.” Kurt used the element of surprise and flipped them and repositioned himself on top. He pressed in and kissed Dave breathless. As he nipped and kissed Dave’s neck, he said, “You can feel that. I know you can. You are amazingly sweet and kind. You are my favorite person to talk to because you have such interesting ideas.” Kurt rolled his hips causing Dave to moan. “And you’re hot as hell and I’d spend every lunch the way we did today, if I could. I wink at you from across the room or across the hall because I think you’re hot and I want to let you know that.”

“Okay. This conversation started out about you manipulating me. That’s not happening on any level that I can see. I love you and I’m totally into whatever sexy shenanigans you want to try. Blowjobs in the woods was great. By all means, come up with all of the sexy ideas you can and surprise me with them.”

“You can do the same, you know? That’s what part of this is about. You don’t initiate most of the time and so I don’t know how to interpret that. I’m as into all of the sexy shenanigans as you called it as you are. You’re a smart man. Don’t wait for me to think up all of the ideas. Come up with some yourself.”

“That issue I can address. Early on you were hesitant. I told you I would follow your lead. You were publicly stand-offish. We worked through that because you were holding back because you thought I wasn’t ready to be public because I had just come out and I was holding back because I thought you didn’t like me enough to be public about us. And you were nervous and I was too, but in different ways. I was nervous because I had liked you for so long and I wanted you so badly to be with me. You were just really tense about letting anyone close enough to you to actually touch you. And today, you planned a sexy lunch for us. Things have changed a lot. But I hold back because I don’t want you to think that sex is all I want from you because it’s not. When your throat was injured and you didn’t want to risk making anything worse and you didn’t blow me for those weeks, I missed talking to you a lot more than I missed you blowing me. And when you were too tired from the medication to even have the energy to make out, I wasn’t thinking about how I missed our sexy times. I was thinking about how much I wanted you to get better. I still have my hands. I could buy toys if I got bored with my hands. But I can’t replace you. I love you. And as much as I’m hot for you all the time, I never want you to feel like that was my main reason for wanting to be your boyfriend. But if you want me to take more initiative some of the time, I can absolutely do that. You have to be willing to let me know if I’m going overboard though. You have less free time than I do and I’ve tried to follow your lead. You have to keep on top of everything or you fall behind. I don’t want to be an interruption by stealing your pencil and making out with you when you’re doing math problems, even though that’s EXACTLY what I want to do. For someone who likes math as much as I do, I’m pretty sick of math because it steals my time with you.”

“You’re jealous my math problems.”

“I am jealous of the time you spend on the math problems instead of me.”

Kurt leaned down and kissed Dave, much less frantically this time. “So, to summarize. I’m not manipulating you to do anything because you want to make out 24/7, or at least you’re interested at any point in time. And now you know that I feel the same way?”

“Yep. And now’s a good time for me. How about you?” Dave slid his hands down lower and rested them on Kurt’s rear.

He kissed Dave. “Now’s good.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They had showered and they were back in bed with Kurt lying on top of Dave, but still supporting some of his own weight on his knees and elbows.

“Now that we’ve gotten the question of whether I was manipulating you by offering affection that I was going to give you anyway…”

“Mmm hmm. And we’ve determined that we like that game and I don’t want you to quit doing it.”

Kurt kissed him. “Now, I have another question that’s similar.”

“Okay.”

“Do you actually want to move to the East Coast? I did some research of my own and there are highly ranked schools for sports management here in Ohio. Are you by-passing considering them because I want to go to New York?”

“Yes, but I don’t feel like you are making or even asking me to give something up. I didn’t have any strong feelings about any of those schools or a strong desire to stay in Ohio. Something has to be meaningful to give it up. Being in Ohio is being in Ohio. It’s neutral at this point because it’s all I’ve ever known. I didn’t have some plan to stay. I didn’t have a specific destination that I had been planning on going to instead. So, going where you go is much more meaningful to me than picking a school somewhere that you won’t be. I don’t think any of the schools that offer the sports management major have some kind of super secret knowledge to impart upon the students that I can’t learn at one of the other schools. It’s a specialized field, but the knowledge required is pretty standard.”

“You’re sure.”

“I am. This is what I was talking to my dad about before I came up. Well, part of what we were talking about. He said the only downside he found to me finding the person I love so young is that neither of us has a career yet. He mentioned knowing guys that took jobs in their field and their girlfriends didn’t want to give up their goals and it split the couples up.”

“Yeah. That’s what I’m afraid of, to be honest. I want to perform and Broadway is like the pinnacle of success for a stage actor. But I want you to love what you do too, or at least enjoy it. I don’t want you to be like Mr. Incredible, stuck in some terrible job that you hate just so that I can do what I want. That won’t make me happy.”

“All of this came to mind because of your dad, right? He’s manipulating you into moving back in with them. He knows that you love design and decorating and I know you like looking at houses. We’ve spent our fair share of time looking at floorplans and houses and the Ikea catalog. I know he doesn’t want me to go with you tomorrow. But when you’re out looking with them, just remember that in a year and a half, we can be looking for a place for the two of us and even if all we can afford is an apartment the size of this room, it will be ours to decorate. I know you got to know Carole better by spending time with her shopping and planning their wedding. Your dad knows that you’re too nice to say ‘no’ most of the time. I know he’s wearing you down. But you have to figure out who and what you’re going to say ‘no’ to because this situation doesn’t end up with everyone getting what they want.”

“I just thought of something.”

“What?”

“What if Carole is pregnant? What if that’s what prompted the quick wedding and the sudden reversal on needing a bigger house?”

“I guess it’s possible, but you said there’s an office upstairs that used to be your room when you were a preschooler. Couldn’t they just use that for the next couple of years until the kid was old enough to need more space?”

“That’s true. I just haven’t been able to figure out what prompted this abrupt change of plans.”

“Maybe your dad thought you and I would break up by now. That we’d get sick of each other and that you’d go home when the newness and excitement wore off.”

Kurt kissed Dave. “Nope. Still exciting.”

Dave tickled him.

“Hey, now. You were being the perfect chaise.”

“You’re the one that kissed me.”

Kurt kissed him again. “You’re right. I did. And I’ll do it until you don’t want me to.”

“Well, that’s never going to happen.” He caressed Kurt’s back instead of tickling him again.   “Now, that we’ve reaffirmed that we both find each other hot and we’re up for making out all the time, no matter who initiates, and how hot I find it when you initiate, and you know that I do not in anyway feel like you are manipulative, do you think you can finally relax and sleep?”

“You left off the part where I love you and you love me.”

“Well, I was getting to that part when we snuggled up to sleep.”

“Mmm. Well, what if I’m still in the mood to make out?”

“Well, then let’s get back to it.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“This house has four bedrooms and three full and two half-baths and detached 2-car garage. The original attached one-car garage was converted into a master suite. The other three bedrooms are upstairs. Two of them share a bathroom that can be accessed from either bedroom. The third was the original master suite and has its own bathroom. One half-bath is off the kitchen, near the laundry room. The other is downstairs in the family room.”

They followed the realtor inside.

“The kitchen has been upgraded recently, as has the water heater. It has a nice size formal dining room, as well as an island in the kitchen. The backyard is fenced.”

They split apart and looked around. Once they finished they moved on the next place.

“This house has four bedrooms as well, but it has three bathrooms. You can see that it has a 2-car attached garage. The master suite and guest room are on the lower level. They each have their own bathroom. The guest room has a small single person shower and a small pedestal sink. It has two doors, allowing it to be used as a guest bathroom without having to enter the bedroom. The other two bedrooms are upstairs and on the opposite side of the house from the master suite. They share a bathroom and a sitting room or a playroom. The original builders used it as a play area for their two children to share.”

Once again, the four of them looked around. Afterwards, they went to the last house the realtor had to show them for the day.

“So, this house is set up the opposite of the other two. Upstairs, there is a master suite with an office and a sitting room. There are two other bedrooms downstairs. They used to share a large bathroom, but the last owner had it remodeled when the kids reached their teen years and fought constantly. It now has two small bathrooms with single showers. It also has large eat-in kitchen rather than a formal dining room.”

They took their time looking around. Burt and Carole thanked the realtor for his time. They asked Kurt to meet up with them at Breadstix. He reluctantly agreed.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“So, what did the two of you think?” Carole asked.

“Well, honestly I liked the first one,” Finn said. I liked the family room in the basement.”

“That’s a nice house, but I honestly think the second one makes more sense. High school is over in a year and a half, and even if Finn stays in Lima to go to college or to get a job, he’ll move out in few years and get his own place. I don’t see why the two of you would want a house as large as the first one unless you’re planning to have more kids. And if that’s the case, then you should tell us so that we can make suggestions that are more appropriate.”

Carole said, “While I may be younger than Burt, by a few years, but I am still over 40 and have no intention of having more children.”

“Alright, then I stick by what I said about the second house. Buying a different house in two years makes no sense financially, so buying a house that is functional now without leaving you with a giant mortgage and a huge house to clean seems more logical to me. I realize that having a big family room downstairs makes the first one really appealing, but the second one has the additional open space upstairs for a TV with a gaming system and a sofa. It would allow for you two to have someone stay over from out of town without having to put them in one of the upstairs rooms. And when you’re older in 20 years, you won’t be the ones having to go up and down the stairs like in your current house or the third one we looked at.”

Finn said, “I still really like the first one.”

Their waitress brought their food.

“Why didn’t you order anything?” Burt asked.

“I told you I have plans at 5:00. I’ll be leaving in 10 minutes. Was there anything else you wanted to ask me? I stick by my opinion that the second one offers the key features you mentioned without being overly large for two people in the future. The master suite has privacy. It’s not near the guest bedroom or the other two upstairs bedrooms. It allows for Finn’s friends to spend time in the open area upstairs, making it sort of like a family room because you could put Finn’s TV there and the big TV could go in the living room. You could still watch things together, if you wanted to. But as I mentioned, from my perspective, there is no reason to buy a different house unless you and Carole just want to live somewhere different and I can see how not having your bedroom and office upstairs would be more convenient in the long run.”

“Kurt…”

“We’re not having this conversation in a public restaurant. I’m going to go ahead and go. It was nice to see you, Carole.” He got up and put his coat on and left.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt got a text from Quinn Monday morning right before first period to meet her ASAP in the nurse’s office. He had to look at his phone a second time because he thought he misread it the first time. He went to his first period class, sat next to Dave, showed him the text, and then asked for a pass to the nurse’s office.

He got there and Quinn was already there. He told the nurse he had a terrible headache and asked if he could lie down for 15 minutes. She shooed him into the curtained-off area where Quinn was. She put her finger up to her mouth and started to write in a notebook.

_Coach Sue is refusing to allow the Cheerios to leave the Regionals competition this weekend so that the three of us can compete at Sectionals with Glee. She told us before school today that if we left to compete, we’d be off the team._

Kurt looked at her baffled.

_And she’s gotten a human canon that she’s going to fire Brittany out of as part of the routine._

Kurt’s eyes flashed.

_I confronted her. I told her that her winning streak would end because we’d go sing and we wouldn’t compete for her at Nationals. She was unmoved. The only option she gave me…_

Kurt looked at her and urged her to finish.

_was to get you back._

Kurt’s eyes flashed again. He shook his head adamantly. He took her pen and wrote on the page.

_Don’t say anything to anyone else until I text you later. When I do text you, just come to the main office. I’ll just text NOW. Just ask for another nurse’s note, but go to the main office instead. Rip this up so there’s no chance of her seeing that you told me._

She nodded and took the sheet out and tore it up. They both went back to class.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

During third period, Kurt claimed he need to go to the nurse again, but this time he went directly to Coach Sue’s office. He knocked and waited for her response and went inside.

“What can I do for you, Porcelain?”

“You will change your stance on this weekend’s competition. I don’t know why the Cheer Regionals is so early this year, but you can accommodate for the three Cheerios in Glee to make it to the Show Choir Sectionals. And you will. You will also eliminate the human canon. It violates Ohio’s high school athletic competition rules, even if the Cheerleading Regionals rules are different.”

“Sure.” She pulled out a Cheerios contract and offered him a pen.

“No, thanks. My resignation was permanent.”

She put the pen down. “Then no deal. I’ll double-check on the Ohio athletic rules because I don’t want disqualified. But the three Cheerios have to make a choice – Glee or Cheerios.”

“Actually, if you don’t let them attend both, I’ll be sure and let Miss Sturbaum know about it. If I don’t hear that you’ve changed your mind by Glee this afternoon, I’ll have Miss Sturbaum here in Principal Harrison’s office tomorrow during first period. It was her goal to put an end to the bullying. I’m sure she’ll want to know about a teacher bullying the students.”

“Don’t cross me, Kurt.”

“Or what?”

“You don’t want on my bad side.”

“You’re right. I don’t. I don’t want on anyone’s bad side. I just want my three friends to be allowed to compete at both competitions this Saturday and to perform in the half-time show at the State Championship game. That’s it, isn’t it? You don’t like it that Coach Beiste is leading the football team still.”

“The Cheerios are the winners at this school.”

“That’s true. They might just not be the ONLY winners this year.” He stood up. “Make sure to let me know your decision by this afternoon. If I haven’t heard from you, I’ll see you tomorrow morning in Principal Harrison’s office.” He walked out the door. Once he was around the corner, he took his phone out of his pocket and saved the recording he had made. He went to the nurse’s office for a few minutes so she would sign the pass for him to go back to class.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt got a note delivered during last period. All it said was “Stand down.”

When he sat down in Glee, Quinn came up and sat in his lap. “Do tell.”

“Tell what?”

“All three of us got notes last period that said we were free to attend all of the events Saturday and that the canon was being removed from the routine.”

“Well, isn’t that great news?” He just winked at her.

“It’s perfect news. So, dress fittings tonight. Pizza is being delivered. We loaded the dresses during lunch.”

“Very efficient of you.”

“Thank you. That’s high praise coming from you. Dance with me, my dear.” She stood and pulled him to standing and down to the floor. She had Brad play the piece they were working on.

“Are you wearing shorts under that?” he asked quietly.

She nodded.

“Alright then.” They got into position and began to dance around.

Right about the time they were about to finish, Mr. Schue finally came in.

“Kurt, Quinn – I didn’t know either one of you danced like that.”

Kurt said, “Well, now you know.” He went back to his seat. Quinn followed him and sat in the chair next to him.

“Alright, listen up everyone. We’re going to go to the auditorium and run our pieces.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Saturday morning, Kurt, Dave, Mercedes, Azimio, Tina, and Artie rode together to Delaware, which was north of Columbus. After much discussion, Mr. Schue was bringing the band members to Sectionals himself in a smaller bus. The three Cheerios were already in Columbus for the Cheer Regionals, and all of the guys had to stay after Sectionals to play in the State Championship game.

Kurt had gotten in contact with Blaine and they planned to meet up at the mall for an early lunch. Azimio headed off saying that he’d eat later after he did his Christmas shopping and winked at Mercedes, leaving her with Kurt and Dave. The three of them chose their lunches and sat down together. Kurt spotted Blaine a few minutes later and waved him over. He sat down next to Mercedes, across from Kurt.

Kurt started the introductions. He motioned as he said their names. “Blaine, Mercedes, and Dave.”

“It’s nice to meet the two of you.”

“You too, “Mercedes said.

Dave just nodded and smiled.

“Let me go grab some food really quick.” Blaine got up and returned a few minutes later with a tray.

“So, all three of us are juniors. Mercedes’ boyfriend was going to eat with us too, but he bailed to go Christmas shopping.”

“I don’t do much Christmas shopping,” Blaine said. “Usually the Warblers draw names, but we haven’t yet. My family and I don’t really exchange gifts.”

Kurt said, “We don’t do much in the way of gifts either.”

“Well, my family goes all out. Not gift-wise, but on the whole shebang. Food and lots of people and it’s nuts. Only the little kids get gifts from the adults though.”

“You said you’re all juniors. I should be. I’m working on taking extra classes. Hopefully, by next fall, I’ll be caught up and I’ll graduate on time. I was out of school for a few weeks my freshman year. I fell behind and opted to retake the semester rather than get bad grades, which would have affected my ability to get into college.”

“So, what are your hobbies?” Kurt asked.

“Well, I love _Vogue_ and old movies, especially the musicals.”

“What was your favorite _Vogue_ cover from 2010?”

Blaine said, “Marion Cotillard.”

“Mine was Marion Cotillard,” Kurt said at the same time.

They both laughed.

Blaine said, “She’s amazing! Amazing!”

“I know. She really is. Have you read Patti LuPone’s new book?”

“Of course I have.” He laughed again.

They sat and Kurt and Blaine discussed the things they found most interesting about Patti LuPone’s book. Mercedes and Dave had nothing to contribute, so they just ate and kept quiet. It didn’t take long for them to finish their food and Kurt and Blaine were still talking. Dave zoned out. Mercedes was playing with her straw in her drink.

“Dave.” Kurt bumped his knee under the table. “Blaine asked what college teams you like.”

“Oh, I don’t watch a lot of college sports. I like the Bengals.”

“My dad’s a Brown’s fan,” Kurt said.

Mercedes said, “My dad roots for the Bengals too.”

“I’m a Buckeyes fan.”

“Are you thinking of going to Ohio State?” Mercedes asked.

“Oh, no. Actually I want to go to school in New York or maybe Los Angeles. I want to act or sing. Performing is what I want to do. What about you?”

“I haven’t really thought about it much,” she said.

“What about you two?”

“We’re considering New York,” Dave said.

“We went in September and it was amazing. There’s so much to do and I felt like I could be myself there.”

Blaine agreed. “I love it there too. I’ve been to Los Angeles as well. It was great and a lot warmer in the winter.”

“That’s true.”

They sat and talked for a while, but the conversation continued to favor Kurt and Blaine.

Dave pulled his phone out when it buzzed. “Azimio is by the door where we’re supposed to meet.”

“Okay. Thanks for coming to meet us. I guess we’ll see you in an hour or so.”

“Thanks for inviting me. I had a nice time. It was nice meeting all of you.”

Mercedes said, “You too.”

“See ya,” Dave said.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They warmed up before going out to the auditorium to watch. Kurt sat next to Dave, who was pretty spaced out.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Fine. Just a little nervous.”

“We’ve got this.” Kurt squeezed his hand.

Dave nodded and let go of Kurt’s hand.

After the Warbler’s wowed the crowd, it was the New Directions’ turn. Sam and Quinn entered from the back and were nearly flawless with their rendition of “Time of my Life”. They reset and they killed “Valerie”. Santana, Mercedes, and Tina did a fantastic job. Mike and Brittany’s dancing was stunning.  They took a bow and left the stage to wait to hear the top three. When the places were announced, they tied with the Warblers.

Kurt and Dave got separated while exiting the stage. Blaine ended up next to Dave.

“Enjoy it while you can.”

“What?”

“How long do you think it will take for him to find someone more his speed once you get to New York. You obviously don’t know who Patti LuPone is. And your backwater chic flannel and boots won’t fit into his vogue New York lifestyle. Tick tock.” Blaine walked away to join the Warblers.

Kurt finally found him and took his hand. “We did it. We’ll we at least halfway did it. We get to move on to Regionals.”

Dave just nodded. He let go of Kurt’s hand, moved to let Kurt in front of him, and tried to not bump into anyone. They changed into their clothes and helped Mr. Schue load the costumes back on the bus. The Cheerios changed lightning fast and disappeared to Quinn’s car just as fast to get back to the stadium before 5:00.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Everyone piled back into the Navigator and Kurt drove two hours to Massillon to the Paul Brown stadium where the State Championship game was being played. They made it just in time for the sack dinners that were being distributed.

“You four, go get changed. You can eat when you get back out. Where are the others?”

“They’re in Mike’s car. They should be here soon.”

She nodded. The four of them went to the locker room and changed. Kurt hung back until Azimio wheeled Artie out.

He ran his hand down Dave’s face. “Something’s bothering you. It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me, but don’t lie to me and say that nothing’s wrong, please.” He stepped closer and kissed him chastely. “Come on. Psych yourself up. We need to go kick the other team’s butt.”

Dave laughed. “Do you even know who we’re playing?”

“Not a clue. My job is to kick the football as far away from me as possible and through the goal posts. Beyond that, I know nothing.” He kissed Dave again. “Come on. I don’t want to get yelled at.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Burt, Carole, Paul, and Judy found their way to their seats with Mercedes and Tina about 5 minutes before the game was set to start. The Cheerios and the opposing team’s cheerleaders were on the field doing traditional flips and cheers. Four players from each side walked to the center. A coin toss determined that the Titans would have the kick off. Judy got her camera out and got the telephoto lens on and was ready when Kurt wheeled Artie out and they set up for the kick off. She took a rapid succession of shots. She took photos throughout the whole game, including the half-time show.

As the timer ran out in the fourth quarter, the six of them stood and cheered. The Titans had won, 35-13. They sat back down and waited for the stadium to empty a little and then the headed down toward the field. They waited through the press photos and eventually got to talk to the four players they most wanted to see. After a brief congratulations, the girls went to ride back to the school on the bus that had brought students to watch the game. Azimio and Artie rode back with the football team.

Dave and Kurt broke away from the group as soon as possible and headed to the locker rooms to shower and change into sweats. They put on their new OHSAA Football State Champions hoodies on. They grabbed their duffles and headed out to the parking lot after stopping to check out with Coach Beiste.

When they got to the Navigator, Kurt opened the back and they tossed their stuff inside. He grabbed the drinks and the banana bread they had brought with them and shut the back. Dave was standing next to the Navigator, but hadn’t gotten in yet. Kurt walked around to the passenger side. He gave him a quick hug and went around to the driver’s side and got in. Dave finally opened the door and got in.

He took a slice of the banana bread Kurt offered him and opened both of their drinks and put them in the drink holders. Kurt turned some music on and headed towards Mansfield. An hour later, they arrived at the motel they were staying at for the night.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Would you rather just go back home? I can get some coffee and push through to drive the rest of the way back. Are you not feeling well? You’ve been really quiet all day – well since lunch and especially since Sectionals.”

Dave got out and went to the office to get the key and to pay for the room. Kurt moved the car down the row a bit after he saw their room number. Dave carried their overnight bag in. Kurt locked the door behind them. Dave put the bag on the dresser and turned around to an armful of Kurt, who kissed him gently.

“You didn’t answer me, but you went ahead and got the room. Are you just tired? Please talk to me.”

“I don’t know what to say. Remember what we were talking about last weekend?”

“About where we were going to go to college and what we are going to study?”

“The other conversation, the night before.”

“About us?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you meet someone? Do you want to break up with me?” Kurt took a step back, crossed his arms over his chest like he was trying to hold himself together, and started to cry.

“Kurt, no. Don’t cry.” Dave moved quickly and wrapped his arms around Kurt. “No, I don’t want to break up with you, ever. I love you so much.”

Kurt was sobbing. “I don’t understand. You’ve been distant all day. I’ve tried to hold your hand, even discretely, and you pulled away.”

Dave let go with one hand and stepped back enough to wipe the tears streaming down Kurt’s cheeks.

“Did I do something? Are you angry with me?” He was still sobbing silently.

“No, you didn’t do anything. Try to stop crying. I love you. Let me hold you. Wrap your arms around me instead of yourself.”

Kurt took him a little by surprise when he wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck and jumped up into his arms and wrapped his legs around Dave’s waist. Dave stumbled back just a bit, but caught himself. He carried Kurt over to the end of the bed and sat him down.

“Let’s put our pajamas on. We can wear the hoodies tomorrow.” Dave started to undress Kurt who willingly helped.

Once he was redressed, Kurt grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste. After he put them back, he turned the bed down and lay down on his back waiting for Dave. After Dave got in bed, Kurt asked, “Light on or off?”

“Off, but give me a chance to go turn the bathroom light on and crack the door. I don’t want the bright light, but I don’t want complete darkness either.” Dave came back and lay down.

Kurt reached for his hand and interlaced their fingers. “Can you please help me understand?”

“Today was like this extended déjà vu for me. Do you remember when we very first talked, the morning after I brought you home?”

“Mostly. I was very hungover at first. After the food and a little more sleep, I felt better and I remember after that.”

“Okay. At first I told you I was afraid to tell you something, but you didn’t know what I was talking about. I went and told my dad while you were in the shower, and then when you came out I told you. I told you that I didn’t want to be the person I was becoming.”

“That I remember.”

“And then I told you I had nightmares of you with someone else more like you and me being this awful bully that I was on my way to turning into because I hated myself so much and hated that my mom wouldn’t love me anymore.”

“I remember that too.”

“Well, today was a flashback-ish or déjà vu version of those dreams. Where you found someone who was interested in the same things you are and who would be the kind of guy you would want to be with.”

“Blaine?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. I don’t like him that way.”

“And I have no idea if he likes you that way, but he sure thinks that I’m not good enough for you.”

“What do you mean? Did he say something to you?”

“Yeah. He said it wouldn’t take you long to find someone more your speed in New York. He said I didn’t know who Patti LuPone was, which isn’t true. I just haven’t read her book yet. And he insulted my flannel and boots wardrobe from earlier this afternoon, saying something how my backwoods clothes wouldn’t fit in with your stylish New York life.”

“When did he say that stuff?”

“When we got separated exiting the stage.”

“Well, don’t listen to him. He doesn’t know me or you.”

“But what he said is true. There will a ton of guys who are into the exact same things that you are and who dress way better than I do.”

Kurt rolled over and straddled Dave’s thighs, but didn’t sit. “Sit up and slide back. Put both of our pillows behind you.”

Dave followed Kurt’s directions and slid back.

“Bend your knees. Make room for me to sit.”

Kurt wrapped his legs around Dave’s waist and sat in the empty space between Dave’s legs. He firmly put his hands on the sides of Dave’s face and looked him straight in the eyes. “David Allen Karofsky, you listen to me. No one knows what we are to each other. No one knows how much I love you. No one can look at me and tell me that I can do better because they’re wrong. I don’t want someone else. I want you. I love you. Do you understand?”

Dave nodded. Now tears were streaming down his cheeks.

“You scared the living daylights out of me all day. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong and you were retreating farther and farther from me. You were breaking my heart. I had to focus on our trip to New York and how we’re going to be together to get to a place where I could relax enough to kick. You are my favorite person in the whole world.” He leaned forward and kissed Dave until they both had to paused to catch their breath. Kurt let his hands slide down to Dave’s shoulders. “I thought about this after you brought it up last week. What would it be like to date someone who also wanted to be a performer? I think it would seem like fun until the two us auditioned for the same role and inevitably only one of us could get it. How would it work to be in constant competition with your boyfriend?” Dave turned away a little. Kurt guided his face back and kissed him gently. “I wasn’t thinking about it because I’m unhappy with you. It just came to mind because we were talking about people’s careers conflicting. I think the biggest conflict would be that my boyfriend and I both want the same parts and that every role I’m most qualified for, he is as well, but I never get picked. That would be miserable.”

“I’m sorry I worried you.”

“I forgive you. I wish you had just told me before the game. I could have given you my ‘I love you’ speech then and saved us both some heartache.” Kurt unwrapped his legs and pulled them up under him so he was straddling Dave’s lap. “Lean back and let me shower you with affection. I’ll kiss those silly bad dreams away. I’m not going to run off with some _Vogue_ -reading guy. I’m not even going to be friends with him if he talks to the person I love that way.”

Kurt reached behind Dave and rearranged the pillows. Dave relaxed back against the pillows and let Kurt massage and kiss him until he fell asleep.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next morning, Dave woke up to Kurt’s tiny kisses on his neck.

“Sorry to wake you up, but it’s getting late. Did you sleep okay?”

“Perfect.”

“No bad dreams?”

“Nope.”

“Good. How about a nice shower before we get dressed? I’ll wash your hair.”

“You don’t have to bribe me, but who I am to turn down one of my favorite things?”

Kurt grabbed their toiletries bag and took it to the bathroom and started the shower to warm it up. By the time he got in, Dave had made his way into the bathroom. He got in the shower too. The shower was filled with gentle touches, I love you’s, hugs, kisses, and more amorous adventures. When they got out, they were still kissing and touching. It took them twice as long to get dressed and ready to go as it would have if they had focused, but they were enjoying themselves too much to care about the time.

Once they were ready, Dave put their bag in the back, and then waited outside the door while Kurt looked the room over one last time.

“That’s it,” Kurt said. “You can turn the key in.” Kurt hopped in the Navigator, started it, and turned the heat on to defrost the window.

Dave came back carrying two bananas. “I didn’t see anything else in the breakfast area that looked decent.”

“Thanks.” Kurt peeled his and ate it. “We can eat more of the banana bread and stop to get coffee or hot chocolate.”

“Ooh, that actually sounds like it would be good together. I wonder where we can get a decent hot chocolate.”

“Look online and see if there’s a diner or a local coffee shop.”

Dave gave him directions. Kurt parked and Dave went in and ordered and brought out two hot chocolates. Kurt drove to Richland Carrousel Park. He finished his slices of banana bread and hot chocolate before they got out. Dave took his hand and interlaced their fingers and they went in to ride the carrousel. They took pictures of each other while they were riding.

“That was cool,” Dave said.

“It was. Are you ready to go see the birds or do you want to stay here for a while?”

“Let’s go in the gift shop. It smells really good. I haven’t done any Christmas shopping and even though we don’t do much, I usually get my dad something. And you know he likes snacks.”

They went inside and bought warm pecans to share and a few candy items for Paul for Christmas.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“I never knew that crows could talk,” Kurt said, as the pulled out of the Ohio Bird Sanctuary parking area.

“Me neither. I liked the owl. I’d never seen one up close like that.”

“Feeding the birds in the aviary was fun.”

“It was. It was a really cool place for a short trip. Did you already pick a place for lunch?”

“I did. It’s called Blossoms Café. They have all sorts of fresh baked goods and sandwiches. It’s in a greenhouse. It’s near or part of The Blueberry Patch. The gift shop looked like a good place to get Quinn and Judy something for Christmas.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When Kurt and Dave pulled into the driveway, Burt’s truck was there. They grabbed their stuff and headed inside. Kurt took a deep breath before he unlocked the door. Dave tossed the duffle onto the floor next to the stairs. He took Kurt’s coat from him and hung it up for him and let him go look for Burt. He found him in the den. Dave took the duffle and went upstairs.

“Hey, Dad.”

“Hey, kiddo. You guys did great last night. The Titans are the state champions. Something I hadn’t imagined.”

“Thanks.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Oh, yeah. I just came to talk to you and Paul said you’d be back around 4:30, so I decided I’d wait.”

“Where’s Paul?”

“Doing laundry I think. Have a seat.”

Kurt sat down at the end of the sofa and faced Burt.

“I want you to come home and spend three nights a week.”

“Can we discuss this in the dining room? I’ll be right back down.”

“Uh, sure.” Burt went into the dining room.

Kurt was back down a few minutes later with a chart in his hand. “This is my schedule.”

* * *

Monday

| 

Tuesday

| 

Wednesday

| 

Thursday

| 

Friday

| 

Saturday

| 

Sunday  
  
---|---|---|---|---|---|---  
  
8-3 School

| 

8-3 School

| 

8-3 School

| 

8-3 School

| 

8-3 School

| 

9-11 Ballet

| 

Laundry  
  
3-4 Glee

| 

3-8 Work

| 

3-8 Work

| 

3-4 Glee

| 

3-8 Work

| 

Homework

| 

Chores  
  
7-10:30 Homework

| 

8:30-10:30 Homework

| 

8:30-10:30 Homework

| 

5-10:30 Homework

| 

8:30-10:30 Homework

| 

 

| 

5-10:30 Busy  
  
* * *

 

Burt looked it over.

“So, basically other than Monday dinner and Thursday dinner, I won’t see you Monday through Friday, except at work if you’re there when I am. And before you ask, yes I actually have 15 hours a week of homework, sometimes more. I do any that I haven’t gotten done during the week when we come back from Findlay on Saturdays. Hockey starts this next week and I will be staying in Findlay some of the time to watch Dave play hockey. I’ll work on my schoolwork in between my ballet class and when his game starts.”

“You have a gap on Mondays.”

“That’s because Mondays are our standing triple date with Azimio and Mercedes and Tina and Artie. Sometimes we go to the movies and sometimes we go bowling. A lot of the time, we just come here and play games. That’s what I’ll be doing even if you make me move back in with you. You said that Dave can’t be at the house when you’re not there, so we’ll just end up coming here because Artie can get around in here. We even had the main level half-bath made accessible for him. So, I’ll be there for dinner, but not before. But you’re not there anyway.”

“Why do you have so much homework?”

“Our US History teacher makes us read the textbook and answer the end of chapter questions and turn them in, plus we get assigned papers to write every other week and we have to read outside materials to write the papers. I’m in fourth year French. It’s more independent study since there are only a few of us. We’re mixed in with the third year students some days. We read novels written in French. I write papers in French about the books I read. I have third year Spanish with a teacher whose first love in life is worksheets. I did convince her to assign them three days per week instead of every day. My pre-calculus teacher thinks that 20 problems a night is reasonable. Most of them take 3-5 minutes to solve. It’s over an hour a night of math problems. If I don’t turn them in, I can’t get an A in the class. Biology is a lot of memorization of things I’ve never heard of before. We have to know detailed information about things that hadn’t even been discovered when you were in high school. And there’s English of course. Lots of reading and papers to write.”

Burt started to talk.

“Before you say anything about Finn. Keep in mind that he doesn’t work, so that gives him a lot more free time than I have. He’s in Geometry, which I took two years ago. He’s in second year Spanish with Mr. Schue. And I can guarantee that if I turned in the same paper that would get Finn a B in English, I’d get a D or F on it with a note about how disappointed the teacher was with my effort and how I was wasting my potential. The teachers don’t grade on a rubric, meaning there aren’t specified points for certain things. They grade subjectively.”

“So, you have to work harder to get an A because the teachers know that you’re a hard worker and you’re smart.”

“Now, you’re catching on. Why don’t you get Miss Sturbaum to go up to the school and look into it? And while you’re at it, ask them the point of assigning so much homework that never gets graded. All those math problems I do every night are worth 10% of my final grade, but they never get graded. The same with the Spanish worksheets. I have to do them, but they don’t get graded and returned. No one learns much from doing that type of homework.”

“That’s nuts.”

“It’s my life. I live it. I know how nuts it is. But what I’m telling you is the truth. You can buy a bigger house where I will have my own room. You can prevent me from spending time with Dave when you’re not there, but it won’t give me any more time to spend with you, unless you’ve decided to take up a silent hobby that you can do while I study in the same room with you. That’s what Dave and I do. We sit together and read. We sit on the futon, prop our feet up on the ottoman and read – a lot. We do our math at the dining table sometimes. Sometimes I just go down to the spare room and use my sewing table while he uses his desk. I’m really not sure when you think I’m going have time to do anything besides sleep and study.”

“What do you do on Saturday evenings?”

“Sometimes watch a movie or occasionally we get invited out, but not that often. I usually work on whatever new thing I learned that morning in ballet or if I didn’t learn anything new, I review whatever we are working on. I didn’t write that on that schedule. Quinn comes over three nights a week and we practice for 30 minutes to an hour. I still practice the piano. Puck’s been teaching me to play the guitar here and there. Tina and I do the tailoring for the Glee costumes. I try to go to bed by 10:30, but a lot of times it’s 11:00. I get up at 6:30, which is when I do yoga, unless someone calls for a meeting of some sort before school, then I have to skip yoga that day to get to school on time for the meeting.”

“So last Saturday after I left?”

“I showered and went to bed. I got up Sunday and did a bunch of reading ahead even though it was a holiday weekend. I couldn’t do the math problems because the ones that are assigned are always random, like 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 12.. Nothing predictable. And of course I didn’t have the worksheets. So, I did all of the reading and the questions for the chapter we were on in US History. I did all of that so that I could have yesterday and today free of homework to attempt to enjoy performing at Sectionals and have time today to go to the bird sanctuary we went to, which was really cool. We finished up our Christmas shopping too.”

“Can I have this schedule?”

“Let me write the other stuff in, and then you can take it.”

“What’s the five hours on Sunday?”

“I sing, read books I want to read, work on my designs – stuff like that. I decided that I deserve five hours of my own life each week to do things that no one else told me that I have to do and isn’t work or a chore of some sort.”

“So, from looking at this, you could do something, let’s say every other Saturday and you could have dinner with us on Mondays or Thursdays.”

“Mondays would be best since I would already be out with everyone. I could stop by and have dinner at 6:00 and then come home and do my homework until I go to bed. Thursdays I come straight home from school and I usually reserve that day to work on my papers since they take a lot of focused time. I usually work on one before dinner and a different one after dinner, but Paul makes dinner that night, so Dave and I just eat and go back to what we were working on. So, maybe 15 minutes for dinner. If I have to drive to your house, eat, clean up afterwards, and drive back home, I’ll be gone for at least an hour.”

“But now that football is over…”

“I have more hours at the shop. We were short-staffed causing it to take longer to get jobs done, but now things will be better. Plus, you know that this time of year is busier with people bring their cars in for repairs. People will ride with their windows down when their A/C gives out, but the heat has to work to defrost the windows. People come in need new tires before it starts to snow. Plus, I need the money. I was barely making enough to cover my expenses.”

Burt looked at the schedule again. “I still think this is nuts. You’re a kid.”

“Here’s what I think some days. I think that all of this is to see which ones of us are willing to jump through endless hoops and work ridiculous amounts of hours with little to no reward. Whoever does it best is who employers want to hire. We come trained to give maximum output for minimal rewards. And by making college so expensive, we graduate with massive debt causing us to have no choice but to work for whatever we’re offered. And so the propaganda of ‘you’ll only get a good job with a good education’ ends up leading to having massive debt, while being overworked and underpaid. I’ve seen ads for jobs that require a college diploma that pay $12 an hour. There are times when I think that I’d be better off working early mornings at a shop and then just take a few classes that seem like they would be really useful and then start to audition without going to college. I don’t know. I feel like one of those hamsters on a wheel. I had to create that Sunday evening time because I felt like I wasn’t even living my own life. I had to get off the wheel for a while. And to be perfectly honest, you’ve been adding to that stress. Every time you ask me to do something when I already have something on my schedule, I have to rearrange everything. So, when I said I had been planning to go to the sing along that night, I meant that I had been PLANNING. Staying up later, using my lunch at school to do more work rather than spend time with my friends, some of whom I only ever see at lunch at school because I don’t have any more free time to schedule them in.”

Burt nodded. He picked up the paper and stood up. “I’ll let you get to your Sunday no hamster wheel time.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt went upstairs and flopped backwards onto the bed. “I think maybe he’s finally getting it.”

“Good.” Dave crossed the room and climbed onto the bed and straddled Kurt. “Now, it’s our time. How about line dancing?”

“I’ll get my hat and boots.” He pushed up and kissed Dave.

“Skip the rest of the costume.” Dave winked at him.


	25. Chapter 25

The next three weeks went by quickly. They were still having their triple dates, and Sam and Quinn became part of their Monday afterschool activities even though they were officially dating. Kurt still struggled with Artie. He had broken Kurt’s trust, which wouldn’t be won back easily, but they had gotten back to being on friendly terms.

Kurt added family dinner on Mondays, more to appease Burt than interest on his own part. At least Finn sat at the table and ate with them and didn’t give him the cold shoulder anymore. Kurt didn’t do the cooking and Carole had finally seemed to get it through her head about Burt following the doctor’s nutritional advice. She began serving a meat that was suitable for Burt that Finn could turn into a sandwich, or two or three, for himself. She made a high-calorie starchy dish for Finn and vegetables for everyone else. And surprisingly, she had made Finn start to eat one serving of the vegetable at each meal. Burt hadn’t mentioned Kurt moving back in since he started going on Mondays.

Puck worked the days that Kurt did not – Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Surprisingly, it was his work ethic that helped him not get sent to a group home for teens in Toledo when his hearing took place. He asked to speak to the judge privately. He explained the living situation he had arranged with Paul and how he had been successful already. He showed the judge his grades, talked about being the student trainer for the football team as well as a player, about being in Glee, and his job at the shop. He showed the judge the certification tests he had taken and told him about his plan to study for more and move to Columbus to get a job and to find a place for himself, his nana, and sister to live. The judge granted Paul’s petition for temporary guardianship of Puck until his 18th birthday. He also ordered him to weekly therapy, a price Puck found reasonable.

Everyone made it through finals and they were looking forward to two weeks of no classes.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Christmas Eve was on a Friday, and the shop was closed. The Hummel’s tradition had been to have a nice dinner served elegantly, despite being a simple meal, exchange a single gift, and to watch a Christmas themed TV show or movie. The year before, they had changed that up by spending the day with Paul and Dave. They had their nice meal at a restaurant, and then went and had fun together at Dave and Buster’s. This year was different. Kurt realized just how different when he and Dave stepped into the living room after hanging their coats in the foyer.

The tree that had been up the whole month with nothing under it, suddenly had a lot of presents under it. Kurt put the gift bag he had brought for his dad on the mantel, and then went into the kitchen to help Dave put out the food they had brought with them. They had made shortbread cookies and decorated them with Quinn earlier. Kurt had made a cake and Dave made the Southwest casserole he had made the year before.

A few minutes later, the six of them sat down to eat. Paul, Burt, and Finn talked about sports, which didn’t interest Kurt, and Dave hadn’t been following televised sports closely enough to have anything to add to their conversation. Kurt politely asked Carole about work, hoping to get some other topic of conversation started. After they ate, Finn helped Kurt and Dave clear the table while Carole put out the desserts. Finn took a stack of small plates back to the dining room.

After they finished eating, Burt asked Dave to help Finn clear the table and do the clean up. He took Kurt with him into the other room. He had seen Kurt put the gift bag on the mantle. He took it down and Kurt followed him upstairs. When they got to the landing, Burt opened the door to his office and ushered Kurt in. Burt sat in his desk chair and indicated for Kurt to sit in Carole’s.

“You and I just exchange a single gift. I’m assuming this is mine.”

“Yes. You told me not to get Carole or Finn anything, so I didn’t.”

“She wants to keep her tradition of kids not getting adults presents and opening presents on Christmas morning. She compromised on having the big meal tonight instead of mid-afternoon tomorrow.”

“Alright. You can open yours.”

Burt pulled out the various small treats that Kurt had been collecting and a new universal remote.

“Ooh, nice.”

“It lights up so you can see which buttons to press in the dark.”

“Perfect. And all the treats look great. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

Burt pulled a small wrapped box out of his desk drawer and handed it to Kurt. He unwrapped it.

“Oh, my God. An iPhone 4? We usually get each other small presents. This is only small in size.”

“Well, I went to the phone store to change up our plan to put Carole and Finn on it. They told me that you could have upgraded last July, but you didn’t.”

“Yeah, I didn’t want the added expense of paying a new phone off, so I decided to stick with my original iPhone. It took me three years to pay it off.”

“Well, the guy told me how this one has a much better camera and a faster processor – four times faster I think he said. It has 8 times as much memory. A whole bunch of improvements. So, I upgraded your phone and I paid out the contract as your Christmas present.”

“Thank you. It’s amazing.”

“He said that everything you need to get it set up is in the box. He put some tiny card in it for me.”

“I just need to get a case to keep it safe. This is really unexpected. My part of the phone plan isn’t going to change is it?”

Burt pulled out a flyer. “This is the plan I got. It has more features than our other one for the same price.”

Kurt took the sheet and folded it and slipped it in his suit jacket pocket. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, kiddo. I knew you’d like it.”

“Are you all having a bunch of people over tomorrow? I saw that the tree is overflowing with gifts.”

“Nope. We’re going to Velma’s briefly on Sunday on the way to Zanesville. Finn’s staying with – I don’t even remember who she settled on. But he’s staying there next week while we’re in Hawaii.”

“Why are there enough gifts for 15 people downstairs then?”

“Those are all for Finn. Carole puts back money into a Santa account all year and then goes crazy at Christmas.”

He raised his eyebrow. “Those are all for Finn?”

“I’m figuring that at least one is for me.”

Kurt raised his eyebrow again. “Alright, then.” He changed the subject. “I hope you two have a great time in Hawaii. Shouldn’t we get back downstairs?”

“Yeah.” Burt put his treats back in his bag and put it at the back of his desk. He picked the remote up and stood up. Kurt followed him back down the stairs.

Kurt slipped the phone box into his coat pocket before he went into the living room. All of the lights had been turned off except one and the movie was ready to go. He saw that Dave and Finn had brought up his old transforming love seat and it was against the back wall. Dave was sitting there waiting for him. Finn was sprawled out in the corner of the sectional with his legs taking up the other side. Carole sat next to him, then Burt, and Paul was on the end. Kurt turned the lamp off and sat down. Carole pressed play to start _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_.

Once the movie started, Kurt scooted closer to Dave. He leaned in and kissed Dave chastely several times before he snuggled in under Dave’s arm that was around his shoulder. When the movie was nearly over, Kurt sat back up. They said their goodbyes. Burt got up and hugged Kurt. They put their coats on, grabbed their stuff from the kitchen, and headed towards the door.

Kurt stopped in the foyer and turned back towards the living room. “Merry Christmas. I hope you have a great time on your honeymoon.”

“Merry Christmas!” Carole called out.

Burt came out to the foyer and saw them out.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Thanks for driving around to look at the lights,” Kurt said as he hung his coat in the closet.

Paul said, “Oh, you’re welcome. We saw some really nice places. I’m sure you remember, but just in case, I will probably be gone by the time you two wake up in the morning. We’re leaving early to go to Frannie’s. We’ll be back late Sunday night. Judy and I are spending some time alone on Sunday while Quinn stays with Frannie for the day. Puck will be back Sunday evening too. Burt’s not leaving until Sunday, so if you have any problems tomorrow night, just call him.”

“We got it, Dad,” Dave teased. “Lock the doors. Don’t let strangers in. Don’t tell people we’re home alone.” He laughed.

Paul shook his head. “Fine, fine. I know you two will be fine.”

Kurt spoke like a commercial. “We’re having a staycation where we stay inside the house and relax for two whole days. We have food, games, books, heat, electricity – everything we need for the perfect non-get-away staycation.”

Paul laughed this time. He followed them to the kitchen. “Sounds perfect. Maybe next weekend I’ll send the two of you away and I’ll have the perfect staycation here at home.”

“We could do that,” Dave said.   He put the casserole dish in the fridge.

Kurt sliced up the rest of the cake and put the slices in a storage container with squares of parchment paper between them, and then put the container in the freezer. “If you really want us to do that, let us know and we’ll look for some place to go next weekend. We haven’t been anywhere in a while. It will be fun. We had wanted to go somewhere for a few days, but then Coach told Dave that the hockey team would be practicing every morning of break for three hours to make up for the lack of practice due to the football season lasting so long. And then he took that job at the Y in the afternoons once he already had to stay in Lima anyway. But going somewhere for the weekend would be nice. ”

Paul said, “I’ll think about it.” He left and went into the den.

Kurt stopped by the closet on the way upstairs. He pulled the box out of his coat pocket and took it upstairs with him. Dave was already in the closet undressing when Kurt closed and locked the door.

“Whatcha got?”

“It’s what my dad gave me.” Kurt turned the box so Dave could see.

“A new iPhone 4? Wow.”

“I know. I was shocked. He paid the contract out, so my monthly cost won’t go up. I just need to get a case for it. All those gifts under the tree are for Finn. I think he felt like he needed to get me something much more expensive than he normally does, but whatever caused him to get it, I really like it. It has 32g of storage. I’ll be able to put music on it and I won’t need carry my iPod around anymore. I can just leave it here docked. And it’s got a much nicer camera – 5mp instead of 2mp. I’m not sure how it’s any different than your 3G, but it should be a lot faster than my original iPhone.” He sat the box on the shelf by the closet. “Are you ready for a super awesome shower?”

“Definitely.”

They took a long very pleasurable shower, followed by Dave doing Kurt’s moisturizing, something they only indulged in on the weekends usually.

“Where do you want to curl up? I want to decide before we open the door. It’s so cold out there compared to in here. Fluffy triangle pillows on the bed or the futon?”

“The bed definitely. I want to make out while in between chapters.”

Kurt backed him into the bathroom wall and kissed him soundly. “We haven’t made out enough yet?”

“Oh, there is never enough.” He kissed down Kurt’s neck and ran his hands along his sides. “You are so sexy. Bed.”

“Bed it is. You grab the pillows. I’ll grab the bag from the bookstore.” He stepped back. “Ready, set, go!” He opened the door, dashed to the end of the dresser, grabbed, the bag, and got in bed.

Dave grabbed the pillows and Kurt made room for them. Dave slid in under the covers quickly. Kurt leaned over and turned the lantern lights on over the bed and turned his side light off. Dave reached over and turned his side light off too.

“Are we not reading yet?”

“Oh, it’s pre-reading kissing time.”

“I see.”

Kurt climbed over and sat in Dave’s lap and wrapped the comforter around their shoulders and kissed him. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Kurt started to move backwards, but Dave didn’t let him. “That was quick.”

“I just need to draw something really quickly.”

“Draw something?” He let go of Kurt.

He scurried across the room, drew something on a piece of paper and came back. He scooted right back to where he had been and kissed Dave. “How upset will you be if we go out Sunday morning really quickly?”

“I won’t be upset at all. It’s not like I have every minute of the next two days planned out. We can go out and get whatever it is that you need and still have our staycation.”

“Thank you. You’re awesome. You know that, right?”

“Awesome, huh? You’ve been hanging out with Sam too much.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “You hang out with him as much as I do. He’s sweet. He’s the only straight jock who’s ever been nice to me.”

“Well, that makes him a smart guy. He’s good for you. He makes you laugh.”

“He’s funny.”

“It’s a good thing he’s straight or you’d be running off with him.”

Kurt crossed his arms and scooted back. He looked like he had been smacked. “That’s not funny. Not at all.”

“I’m sorry. I meant for it to be. Come closer.”

Kurt scooted back up.

“I’m sorry. I love you and you love me and I know that. I don’t think you’re going to run off with anyone. I mean that. And even if Sam were gay, I’d still want you to be friends with him because he makes you laugh and he’s genuinely a nice person. You deserve a good friend too.”

“Okay, but please don’t even think about me running off because that hurts, really hurts. I want you to trust me.”

“I do, Fancy. I do. I mean that. It was just stupid.”

“I thought we were past this.”

“We are. But obviously not quite far enough past it for me to joke about it.” Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt and pulled him the rest of the way towards him.

“I guess not.” Kurt laid his head on Dave’s shoulder. “It’s just really important to me that you trust me. Even if I somehow ended up locked in a room with no clothes with another naked gay guy, I wouldn’t cheat on you. I need you to know that.”

“I do. I know. I trust you. Can we try to forget I said that? No more attempts at humor from me tonight. I promise. Just love and snuggles and reading.”

Kurt turned his face towards Dave’s neck and kissed him gently. “Okay. But you left off the kisses.”

“Definitely kisses too.”

“Good. Which book do you want to read first? _The Scorch Trials, Fang, or Behemoth_? We’ll pick up our copy _The Gift_ that we pre-ordered next Friday and it can be a choice for next weekend.”

“I’ll start with _Behemoth_.”

Kurt leaned over and pulled it out of the stack. He took _Fang_ for himself. He handed _Behemoth_ to Dave. “Can you read with just these lights?”

“Since it’s pitch black outside, I think so. Scoot closer.”

“Just a minute.” He got up and grabbed the throw and sat back down. He put it over their shoulders and pulled the comforter up. “It’s really gotten cold outside this week.”

“It has, but I like it when you snuggle up to me.”

Kurt turned and kissed him. “I like snuggling up to you.” He got comfortable and they opened their new books.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Saturday morning, Kurt managed to sneak downstairs and make Dave waffles and sausages for breakfast, but he was discovered before he managed to get everything on the tray to take it upstairs. Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt and hugged him from behind.

“Spoiling me again? Waffles with strawberries and whipped cream? I was going to spoil you this morning.”

“Ah, well, the earlier bird gets to spoil the other bird or something like that.”

Dave smiled and pressed his lips to the back of Kurt’s neck. “Well, after breakfast, I’m going to give you the massage that was second on my list.”

“Mmm. Sounds great. Let’s eat before it gets cold.” Kurt took their plates to the table.

Dave poured them glasses of orange juice and sat down next to Kurt. They ate without talking much. Dave washed the waffle maker and Kurt loaded and turned the dishwasher on since no one had run it the night before.

When they got upstairs, Kurt opened the door and went in their room. He saw that Dave had made the bed and it was warmer in the room than it had been. Dave shut the door quickly.

“I turned the heat up when I went downstairs to warm it up in here a little. I turned it back down on the way up.”

Kurt undressed and lay down on the towels Dave had laid out in the shape of a lower case T. Kurt had bought them on clearance at the end of the summer because they were super soft like velour on one side.

Dave grabbed Kurt’s body lotion and straddled him.

“What did we decide about this?”

“That I’m supposed to get undressed too?”

“Bingo. Off with those pajamas, Mister.”

“Sure, thing Mr. Bossypants.”

Kurt wiggled his tush. “Nope. No pants.”

“Mr. Bossy-no-pants.”

Kurt laughed.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“I’m so relaxed and warm and toasty, I don’t know if I want to stop snuggling you to keep up our end of the _Halo_ battle. Shooting things doesn’t sound nearly as nice as lying here on you.”

“I’m pretty sure that Azimio will not appreciate the excuse that we’ve had sex too many times to have the energy to play _Halo_ with him.”

“Probably not since I’m pretty certain that Mercedes is still of the ‘not until I’m married’ mindset. We should have ordered him a fleshlight for Christmas.”

Dave burst out laughing. “There’s always New Year’s.”

“And I’m not sure that he would consider what we do having sex. It doesn’t fit the traditional implications of the word.”

“Well, his opinion on this topic is irrelevant. He’s probably never given it two seconds thought. But rather than a fleshlight, we should get him one of those blue things we have. He’d have a better chance of keeping that where no one could find it.”

“That’s true. It’s a lot smaller and it feels great.”

“Somehow I think his momma might ground him indefinitely if she found it though.”

“Some people are really weird about stuff. It’s not like he can’t do it without one.”

“But she can pretend that he doesn’t.”

“Denial – some parents’ favorite river. Come on. We have to put some clothes on and get the xBox set up.”

“What if I’d rather pretend that we forgot and we go back to our sexy times?”

“David Allen Karofsky, I will not lie to Azimio.”

Dave started cackling. “You’re great. You win. I can totally see you ratting me out and telling him that I wanted to stay in bed to have sex again just to watch him choke.”

“Tempting, but no. Up you go, handsome. We can entertain ourselves again later.”

“Promise?”

“Other than when I was sick, have I ever turned you down?”

“No…”

“That’s because you’re super sexy and irresistible.”

“But you’re resisting me now…”

“No. I’m not. I’m trying to keep my word to Azimio, but I’m just delaying my own gratification, not resisting your irresistible sexiness.”

“Lots of words that mean I have to get dressed and get out of bed.”

Kurt rushed to the dresser and put a pair of Dave’s old sweats on. Kurt threw a pair of sweats at Dave from the dresser. Dave pulled the sweats on, got up and grabbed his Bengal’s hoodie out of the closet. He grabbed Kurt’s Bengal’s hoodie and pulled it over his head, trapping his arms to his side and causing Kurt to laugh as he struggled to get his arms in. When he finally did, he threw his arms around Dave’s neck and jumped up and wrapped his legs around his waist.

“For that, you can carry me to the futon.”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Bossypants.”

Kurt kissed him all over his face.

Dave started laughing. “I don’t think I can walk while laughing. You’re a lot bigger than you were when we first started doing this.”

“Four and a half inches and 10 pounds isn’t THAT much.” Kurt kept kissing him.

“Yeah, but your excellent feeding methods helped me lose 15 pounds.”

“Maybe it was carrying me around that helped you lose 15 pounds.”

Dave put him down on the futon. Kurt kissed him again before he let go. “I love you. Let’s kick Azimio’s ass.”

“As you wish.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sunday morning, they were out and back in less than an hour. Kurt pulled into the garage and put the door back down.

“What do you need a blanket for when we have several here?” Dave asked as he unlocked the door to the house.

“You’ll see.” Kurt started swaying his hips as he walked across the living room. “Dance with me first?”

“Of course.”

Kurt found the playlist that he wanted and pressed play.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“You can be in the room with me, but you have to lay backwards on the bed so that you’re facing the wall while you read. I want what I’m doing to be a surprise.”

“Okay.”

“You could play video games while I do it. That’s what I figured you’d do.”

“Nope. I want to be able to talk to you.”

“Alright then. Come on.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Can I see it now?”

“Nope. The unveiling will be upstairs in our room. But you can’t be dressed if you want to see it.”

Dave grabbed the book and hurried upstairs. Kurt gave him long enough to get upstairs before he followed him. He opened the door and peeked in.

“Put the reading pillows on the bed, get under the covers, and then close your eyes and leave them closed.” Kurt stepped the rest of the way in and closed and locked the door, on the off-chance Paul or Puck came back early. He went in the closet and undressed. Once Dave was in place, Kurt walked over to the bed and put his double-snuggle blanket shawl over Dave’s shoulders, and then sat next to Dave and put over his own shoulders. “You can open your eyes now.”

Dave looked at what was covering his shoulders.

“You need to fasten it near your right shoulder. I’ll show you.” Kurt pushed his half back toward the pillows and moved so he could fasten the front part closed.

“I see. It’s like a loop through a button hole.”

“Exactly. I didn’t want to put an actual button on.” He moved back to his spot and fastened his side near his left shoulder.

“It’s like a cape for a two-headed troll.”

Kurt shook his head and tried not to laugh, but he couldn’t really disagree with Dave’s description. “I think maybe ‘Lover’s Cape’ is a nice name.”

“You could market these.”

“Maybe. First we have to test out my design for practicality and ease of use. I didn’t just put head holes like a poncho because the idea is that we can wear it this way while sitting next to each other and we can use it as a drape when spooning. I always end up sticking my arm out during the night and I wake up with a very cold arm and shoulder and I make you end up the same way. With this, we can put it on backwards so that we can sleep with our arm over the comforter, but we will still be covered. We’ll try it out a little later.”

“Well it works like this. It’s better than the throw because that never covered our arms that are touching.” He leaned towards Kurt, who met him halfway and gave him a quick kiss. “I give it an A so far.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

That evening when he got home, Paul sent Dave a text asking them to come downstairs. They got up and put some pajamas on and went down. He was waiting for them in the den.

“Isn’t it a little early for pajamas?”

“Staycation rules say you can wear your pajamas all day if you want,” Kurt said.

“I see. I’ll be sure and tell Judy that for next weekend.”

Kurt laughed. “I’d love to see the look on her face when you tell her.”

“Maybe you should tell her since you’re the one making up the rules.”

“I’ll pass.”

“I actually wanted to tell the two of you that I would like for you two to go somewhere next weekend. I know you two had wanted to go someplace for a few days, but Kurt has to work both weeks and Dave took that job that Puck told him about. I know the shop is closing early on Friday since it’s New Year’s Eve, so hopefully you two can head out as soon as Kurt gets off and drive while it’s light outside.”

“Okay,” Dave said, “We’ll go check to see if there’s anything fun going on somewhere on Saturday or Sunday. Maybe that dollar theater is having another marathon of movies or something.”

“The other reason I wanted to talk to you was to tell you that I asked Judy to marry me and she said ‘yes’. It won’t be for a while, maybe a long while – like maybe after the three of you graduate. I’m not sure. We didn’t talk about a date.”

“Congratulations, Dad.”

“That’s great.”

“I know I already told Dave, but I don’t know if he told you. She won’t be moving in here with us unless we’re already married. She and Quinn will keep their place until we get married.”

Kurt said, “Alright.”

“I dropped them off at their house, so they could do a few things. They’ll be over in a bit to watch a movie. You’re welcome to join us.”

Dave asked, “What movie?”

“ _Nanny McPhee_.”

“I’m in,” Kurt said.

Dave smiled, “Me too. Just text us when they get here and we’ll come back down.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday evening when Kurt walked in the door, he was greeted with a kiss and Dave took his coat. He ran up and showered quickly, changed, and came back down. Azimio and Dave had cooked with Sam’s help. Puck was joining them as well, but he was sitting at the table with Tina, Mercedes, and Quinn.

When Kurt came back in the room, he said, “Where’s Artie?”

Tina said, “Still at his grandparents.”

“Ah. Okay.” Kurt plopped down next to her.

A few minutes later, the three guys put heat pads and the pots and a platter on the table. Dave went back and brought out bowls and plates for everyone.

“So, there is vegetable beef soup, turkey chili, and chicken rice vegetable soup. If anyone hates all of those choices, there’s peanut butter and jelly that you can make sandwiches with. Obviously, there’s a selection of crackers, cheese, and some rolls on the platter. Help yourselves.”

Mercedes laughed. “Yeah, right. As if any of us would turn down all three of those to eat peanut butter and jelly. I’m having that chicken soup. I love that.”

They all served themselves.

Kurt asked Azimio, “How is operation train the jocks to be decent going?”

“Well, so many jocks signed up for Home Ec, Miss Pillsbury told me that they had to open a new section.”

Tina said, “Really? That’s amazing.”

Mercedes said, “I bragged about Azimio cooking for me and Quinn talked about how nice it was when Sam came over and cooked with her. Also several of the Cheerios are in my math class and I talked up my nails a few times and I just brought up a lot of little things all semester and I heard some of them talking one day about how they’d had it with childish boys.”

Azimio said, “I know that a couple of the girls broke up with a couple of the seniors.”

“I’ve been having the girls who were interested meet at my house every other week to learn about safe sex and all of the options for outercourse instead of intercourse.”

Tina said, “I don’t even know what means.”

“It’s a term I read online to describe sexual stimulation without vaginal or anal penetration. There’s a lot of emphasis in some religions about not having intercourse and that being ‘sex’. But we’ve talked about how the hormones that are produced from having an orgasm are the same no matter how the orgasm was achieved. And we’ve talked a lot about how girls are expected to provide that for a guy, but they guys leave them unsatisfied. Sadly, quite a few of them have been having intercourse for years and have never had an orgasm. They do it for their boyfriends to make them happy. How is that a relationship? That’s just wrong.”

“That’s where I come in,” Azimio said. “I got Puck and a couple of other guys, whose names Quinn got from some of the girls, to meet up after football. They talked to the guys about using their girlfriends for their own benefits and not satisfying their girls, whether it’s just been hand jobs or blow jobs or beyond. The guys that leave their girls happy laid into the others pretty hard.”

“Did the girls report back about changes in the guys’ attitudes?”

“They did. At least some of them. And that emboldened the other girls. If some of the guys could change, then they decided the rest could too. Like Azimio said, a couple of them gave their guys a chance to change after talking to them honestly about it and when they wanted to continue with their ‘wham, bam, thank you ma’am’ attitudes, the girls cut them loose. I also showed them how to put condoms on properly and that they needed to do it themselves because it’s pretty hard to tell with some of the ultrathin ones. The only way they can be sure the condom is on right is to take it out of the sealed packaged themselves and then put it on the guy themselves . It’s insane, but I read about guys poking holes in condoms so they could intentionally get their girlfriend pregnant to get her to stay with them for the sake of the baby.”

Mercedes said, “That’s awful.”

“It is. I also had them follow me to the reproductive health clinic for a tour. They were so nice to us there. They showed us a video of what getting an exam involves – an animated video. And they told us about the various contraception methods. The lady showed everyone how to put a condom on and gave them the same speech that I had. ‘If you didn’t put it on him yourself, you don’t know for sure it went on.’”

“I took the guys down there a different day. We got to watch a video too. They told us about the different contraceptives for girls. We got a ‘Don’t be offended if the girl insists on putting the condom on you.’ lecture. She said to feel free to examine the packages ourselves for punctures or damage. There have been girls who’ve done the same thing to guys. They want a baby, but the guy doesn’t, so they quit taking their pills or whatever and then they damage the condoms so that they can get pregnant to keep the guy around.”

Tina said, “Manipulative people. I mean if your boyfriend or girlfriend doesn’t want a baby or isn’t ready, go find someone else who is. No offense meant to you Quinn. Things happen and people sometimes still get pregnant. I just meant that doing it to someone on purpose is just really manipulative.”

“It is,” Quinn said. “And mine didn’t happen that way. We were just young and stupid. I’m just trying to prevent other girls and guys from ending up like I did and the guy I slept with. It hurt him too. A lot. He was 15 too. He gave up a baby just as much as I did. It hurts. He went through counseling too. If we had both received proper sex education classes, I wouldn’t have ended up pregnant and neither of us would have ended up so hurt. Neither of us is stupid anymore.”

Tina said, “Telling the Cheerios isn’t enough. It’s a start, but somehow the rest of the girls need to know.”

“You two can start bringing girls you know. We can try to have a meeting every week where we cover everything. I just started with the Cheerios because the vast majority of them are already having sex with guys. We can start talking to the girls that aren’t too. That way when they do or they think they want to, they know how to not end up pregnant or get STIs.”

Kurt said, “Maybe the reproductive clinic would let us make a video of their girl and guy presentations. That way you could show the video to the girls you get to come over and you wouldn’t have to actually arrange to get each group to the clinic each week, but the girls who want to go their themselves wouldn’t feel like they were walking into the unknown. They’d already be familiar with what they’ll find inside. Plus, some of those girls would probably get into trouble for going to a place like that, so they’ll never go on their own.”

Quinn said, “We can try. Azimio and I can go over there one day this week and see. The worst they can say is ‘no’. Maybe they’ll agree to it, especially if I mention that last part – about them being able to reach a group of girls who won’t ever go there on their own.”

All the while everyone had been talking, people had been getting up and down and serving themselves.

Azimio asked, “Is there dessert? It’s fine if there isn’t. I just don’t want to eat anything else if there is. If there’s not, I’m having more soup.”

Sam said, “I brought brownies.”

“We made some gingerbread cookies yesterday afternoon. So, those are the two dessert options. Oh, and the vanilla ice cream can be served with one of those or separately.”

Puck, Tina, Mercedes, and Quinn got up to clean up and put stuff away.

Kurt called out, “Hey, Puck, the cookies are on top of the fridge.”

“Got it.” He grabbed them and the pan of brownies and took them to the table.

Sam grabbed a carton of ice cream. Quinn brought the ice cream scoop and a spatula out. Mercedes grabbed the green and red paper plates and took them to the table. A few minutes later, they were all enjoying their desserts. The remaining cookies and brownies were left on the table with the paper plates. They cleaned everything else up.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sam and Puck teamed up against Azimio and Dave upstairs on their xBoxes. Kurt and the three girls went into the studio.

“I missed having class last week and we won’t have it again this week. Dance with me, my dear.”

“Yes, darling.”

Kurt and Quinn changed their shoes. They sat down on the floor to stretch first.

Kurt said, “We need to think of something to wow the judge at Regionals. The Warblers are really good. And we have to assume that all of the other groups will be good too.”

Mercedes said, “Yeah, and if we get lumped with Vocal Adrenaline we’re looking at 2nd place at best again.”

Tina said, “Not necessarily. Ms. Whatever-her-name is quit as their director and they lost Jesse and the other seniors. With new people and a new director, we might stand a chance, but only if we’re really good.”

“I’ll use my computer later tonight or tomorrow and see if Vocal Adrenaline won their Sectionals,” Mercedes said.

Kurt said, “We have to figure out what to do about Rachel. Someone has to get a copy of that Show Choir rules book and figure out whether Rachel can sing with us or not. And then we have to decide whether or not we’re going to let her back into the club.”

“She’s so annoying,” Mercedes said.

Kurt said, “I know, but I’m sure all of us annoy people at school. We can’t just keep her out because she’s annoying.”

“Let her back on probation. If she starts up the diva stuff again, she’s back out of the club for the year,” Quinn suggested. She got up and did some other stretches.

Kurt got up and did some other stretches as well. “Try to think of some good songs.” He turned the music on and held out his hand to Quinn.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

An hour and a half later, the four of them had watched numerous YouTube videos and still hadn’t come up with a single song to use for Regionals. They guys came down after finishing up.

Sam said, “Movie time,” as he leaned in the room from the foyer.

Mercedes said, “Who chose the movie?”

“I did. You’ll like it, I promise.”

They all piled into the den and Dave pressed play. _Despicable Me_ came on and Sam looked at Mercedes.

“Told you.”

She laughed. “You’re right. This movie is great. I didn’t realize it was out on DVD.”

“My parents got it for all of us for Christmas.”

Someone shushed them and they stopped talking. Once the movie was over, everybody headed home.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt and Dave snuggled up in bed in the dark. They both had to get up early the next morning.

“Wait, don’t you have a game on Saturday? We can’t just go gallivanting off Friday when I get off.”

“You’re right. Well, we could stay somewhere in Findlay Friday night and then stay somewhere else Saturday night.”

“We’ll have to work on it tomorrow. We need to sleep. Can you scoot closer?”

“You cold?”

“No, I just want to feel your skin on mine.”

He scooted as close as he could get and wrapped his arm around Kurt.

“Much better. I love you.”

Dave kissed the back of his neck. “I love you too, so much.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The rest of the week Kurt worked 8-6, like he had on Monday. Dave went to hockey practice for three hours each morning, and then came back to Lima to work at the Y’s two week winter break camp. He worked with the 10-12 year olds from 12:00-5:00. Puck took a 7:00-3:00 position at the camp, so he could still work from 4:00-8:00 at the shop each afternoon. He got Kurt to give him Saturday mornings off over break so he could head to Columbus on Friday evenings.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Thursday evening they packed for the weekend before they went to bed. Friday morning, they loaded the Navigator before Kurt left for work. The shop closed early and Kurt went straight to the library to borrow some DVDs, and then to the bookstore to pick up _The Gift_. He went home, showered, redressed, grabbed the things they had made to take with them from the fridge, put them in their backpack cooler, and was waiting for Dave when he walked in through the garage.

Kurt kissed him. “Everything’s ready.”

“Okay. I’m just going to go shower and change really quickly.” He was back 10 minutes later carrying a small bag. “Let’s go.”

A little over 30 minutes later, they were in Findlay. They settled into the motel room. Kurt hooked his Wii up to the TV. Dave brought their food in and put it in the mini fridge. Kurt hung their clothes up.

“There. Everything’s done.”

Dave enveloped him in his arms and kissed him.

“This is going to be so much fun. I love the _Donkey Kong_ games. I wasn’t expecting anything big like a video game from Judy. _Donkey Kong Country Returns_ here we come.” Kurt handed Dave an original GameCube Wavebird. “I’m so glad I kept my GameCube controllers. The Wiimotes are fun for some things like bowling and the other sporty games, but for _Donkey Kong_ – no thanks. Ready?”

“Let’s give it a go.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“You have to admit this is actually a lot more fun that _Halo_ or _COD_. You never laugh when we play those.”

“Of course this is more fun. And you make it even more fun. Let’s eat what we brought for dinner. I’m hungry.”

Dave pulled out the sandwiches and chopped salads they had made. Kurt put a small tablecloth over the table. They sat down and ate.

“The chicken salad is really good,” Dave said. “I really do like the addition of the diced red peppers.”

“Me too. So your game starts at 10:00, but you have to be there at 9:00, right?”

“Yep. What movies did you bring?”

Kurt got up and grabbed them. He put them on the table where Dave could see them. “I brought a selection. I didn’t know what we’d be in the mood for. And I’ve never seen any of these. I just pulled DVDs off the shelf randomly and looked at them. I kept a few that seemed unusual or hopefully funny.”

He picked each one up and looked at the back quickly. “How about _The Three Amigos_. My dad’s a big Steve Martin fan and Martin Short is pretty funny.”

“ _The Three Amigos_ it is then. Do you want to shower before or after we watch the movie?”

“Both?”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “We’ll start with before then.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“So what did you think?” Kurt asked.

“I think that has to be the most ridiculous silly movie I have ever seen.”

“It’s definitely up high on the ridiculous list, but it was entertaining.”

“We’ve got 30 minutes before the ball drops in New York City.” He started kissing Kurt’s hand and up his arm, like Gomez Adams. “Suggestions?”

“I think you already have a suggestion of your own. Let’s turn the TV to the right station, mute it, set an alarm for 25 minutes from now, and then we’’ make out until it goes off.”

“Works for me.” Kurt hopped up, ejected the DVD, and turned the Wii off. He changed the TV to the right station, took the remote back with him, and turned the light off before he got back in bed with Dave. “I’m all yours.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1”

They kissed right as the countdown finished.

“Happy New Year, sweetie!”

“Happy New Year!”

Kurt picked the remote up and shut the TV off. He checked his phone for the morning alarm time and put it back down. He rolled over and laid half on Dave and sprawled out wrapping himself around him. He ran his fingers across Dave’s chest, just barely using his fingernails, the way Dave liked sometimes.

Dave laughed. “Comfy yet, my little kitten?”

Kurt said, “Kitten? I don’t think so.”

“Well, I’d call you a minx, but I think that’s only for girls, which you definitely are NOT. You’re hella sexy and totally hot. We’re supposed to be going to sleep, but if you keep running your fingernails across my chest like that, I’m not going to be sleepy anymore.”

“I’ll be good.” He flattened his hand to Dave’s chest. “I want you to be rested for the game. Do you have the same number you had freshman year?”

“I do.”

“Perfect. I found your old jersey in the closet and I packed it. I’m wearing it to the game tomorrow. I’m going to be your number one fan.”

Dave kissed the top of his head. “Thank you.”

“Of course. I love you.”

“I love you too. I’m comfortable. Are you?”

“I am. Very.” He found Dave’s hand and slid his underneath it.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next morning, Kurt was sitting down near the ice watching Dave skate when his car alarm went off in his pocket. He silenced it and made his way back up to the exit doors. He looked out to where he had parked and saw his Navigator had been vandalized. He called 911. He waited until the police showed up to go outside. When the officers got out, Kurt hurried out to the patrol car.

“I’m the one that called.” He pointed to the Navigator. “My alarm went off and I came to check. I looked out the door and saw the damage. I stayed inside in case whoever had done it was still nearby.”

One officer headed toward the SUV. Kurt followed him. Once he got closer, he could see the rest of the damage.

“Oh, my God. I’m going to have to have it repainted again.”

“Again? This has happened before?”

“Well, not exactly this. The last time my windows weren’t broken out. Last time, they used spray paint to paint a rainbow stripe all the way around it. That was in the McKinley High School parking lot over a year ago.”

The officer’s partner radioed him, telling him that he was going inside to see if there were security cameras.

“Tell me about last year.”

“Five members of our school’s hockey team vandalized my SUV a few weeks after they had beaten up my boyfriend. My boyfriend’s father is a lawyer and gave them the chance to go to counseling and to voluntarily withdraw from McKinley instead of prosecuting them. We had video surveillance and photographs.”

“I see. You think this is connected to that?”

“I don’t know who else would do this. This isn’t really premeditated. No spray paint. They used their keys to do this. And probably their hockey sticks to bust out my windows. I thought they had transferred to Lima North, but I guess they could have transferred to Findlay, which is who McKinley is getting ready to play at 10:00.”

He was radioed again.

“My partner is going to meet you at the front doors. I’ll stay here.”

“Can I call to have it picked up? It will take 30 minutes for someone from my dad’s shop to get here with a flatbed tow truck.”

“Sure. You can’t drive it with four slashed tires.”

Kurt called Cassius on the way back to the building.

“Hey, Kurt. What’s up?”

“I need someone to bring the flatbed up to the ice rink here in Findlay to collect my Navigator. It’s been vandalized. Have someone follow you here with something I can drive back to Lima in. The game hasn’t even started yet. We’ll need a way home later.”

“Got it.”

Kurt opened the door and followed the second officer to the security office.

“I’m Officer Dawson. The stadium has cameras covering that area. They’re ready for us to view the footage.”

When they went in the office, Kurt and the Officer Dawson were shown the footage.

“That’s easy. Their numbers are visible on their jerseys because their jackets are open. But I know who they are anyway. That’s Stinson and Johnson. They were the two that threatened to hurt me if my boyfriend and I didn’t quit the football team last year. They beat my boyfriend up and they vandalized my SUV last school year in the fall. Like I told the other officer, I thought they transferred to Lima North, but they obviously transferred to Findlay at some point.”

“Officer Martin is outside photographing everything, but as soon as he finishes, we’ll head down to the ice and take Stinson and Johnson down to the station. If they fled the scene when your alarm sounded, we’ll work with the Lima police to have an arrest warrant issued and have them picked up.”

“Are you 18?”

“No, I’m 17.”

“Is one of your parents here with you?”

“My dad and stepmother are in Hawaii on their honeymoon. I can get my boyfriend’s dad to come if you need me too.”

“When will your dad be back?”

“Tomorrow.”

“That’s fine. Nothing’s going to get done today besides locking them up. They won’t get processed until Monday anyway.”

“I have a lawyer.”

“That’s fine. He can come Monday too. Or she.”

“He.”

The officer nodded. His walkie went off. “Alright. He’s done with the photos. Do you have anything in the vehicle that you need to remove?”

“I do.”

“Alright.” He radioed back. “He’ll wait out there until you go get it.” He turned to the security officer. “I’ll need copies of that footage.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll have it for you in 10 minutes.”

Kurt left and went outside. He walked to the back of the Navigator and opened it. He grabbed their backpack cooler, and then picked up both of their winter coats. The officer closed the back.

“We were going to go somewhere after the game and our letterman jackets aren’t really warm enough to be outside in for a long time. It should only be another 10 minutes or so before the wrecker gets here. I’ll just go stand inside the doors so you can arrest Stinson and Johnson if they’re here. Actually, I’ll go wait farther away from the door, so I don’t have to see them up close on their way out.”

The two of them walked back inside. Kurt walked away and went back down the stairs two sections over. He put the stocking cap on that he had borrowed from Dave and he sat down in one of the seats and put their stuff in the seat next to him. He saw both of the officers make their way down the aisle that led to the door to the ice and across the rink he saw two of the rink security staff block the exit on the other side.

A voice came over the PA system calling for everyone on the ice to stop moving and for Stinson, Johnson, and the Findlay coach to approach the area where the officers were waiting. Johnson tried to make a break for it, but found that he couldn’t get out the other side. They were escorted to the seats near the door to the ice. They sat there for a while before Kurt realized they were waiting for someone to get their shoes.

Suddenly, Officer Martin pulled his gun. The other officer made them stand and cuffed them both. He sat them back down. Their coach returned with their shoes and removed their skates himself while Officer Martin still had his gun drawn. Once their shoes were on and their skates were out of reach, Officer Martin holstered his gun. The two of them were escorted out of the stadium.

Kurt’s phone had pinged with a few texts, but he didn’t want to move until they were out of the building. As soon as they were out of sight, he responded. Once Cassius said that a second patrol car had arrived and had left with two teenagers in the back, Kurt went outside.

Officer Martin was standing by the Navigator again. As Kurt approached, he asked, “Is this who you called to come tow your vehicle?”

“It is.”

“Alright, then. Let’s get out of their way.”

Kurt laughed. “I’ll be helping him. I’ll be right back.”

Kurt and Cassius loaded the Navigator onto the truck.

Cassius said, “Joe should be here any minute. He’s bringing your dad’s truck. You know it’s been there all week. We figured that was the best thing to bring.”

“Good thinking. I’ll leave it in the garage at the house when I get back to Lima. Don’t call him and tell him about this. Let them enjoy their last two days there. I’ll tell him tomorrow night when they get back.”

Joe pulled up in Burt’s truck. He gave Kurt the keys. Kurt put the stuff in his arms in the front and locked it back.

Officer Martin spoke to Kurt again. “Don’t start any work on it until Monday.”

“I’m pretty familiar with how all this works, but the shop is closed tomorrow anyway. Plus there’s nowhere to get two new front windows on the weekend. They’ll have to be ordered on Monday. I work 8-4, so I’ll call around and see where I can find two in stock.”

“Right. I got all of the information I needed already, except your insurance card.”

Kurt pulled it out of his wallet and gave it to him. Once he copied it down, he gave it back.

“Your insurance won’t have to pay, but they’ll send out their own claims adjuster to write up an estimate.”

Cassius yelled the window. “See ya Monday, Kurt!”

Kurt waved. He turned back to the officer. “Thank you for your quick response and being so civil.”

“That’s my job.”

“Well, you do it better than others.”

“Thanks.” He headed off towards the patrol car and got in.

Just as the patrol car drove off, Dave came out the doors jogging toward where they had parked. “What’s going on? Stinson and Johnson got arrested. Where’s the Navigator?”

“Gone. Cassius just towed it back to the shop.” Kurt pulled his phone out and showed Dave the photos he had managed to take.

“Not again.”

“Yes. There are security cameras. Stinson and Johnson aren’t going to walk this time. They did about $4000 in damage.”

“They had to repay $3000 the last time. You would think that would have made them think twice.”

“Obviously they thought they could get away with it. The security camera is well-hidden. Why are you out here?”

“Oh, Findlay had to forfeit. We can go. How are we leaving though?”

Kurt pointed down the row a ways. “Joe brought my dad’s truck. It was at the shop, but it had already been fixed. But since he’s out of town, it was still there.”

“That works. What do you want to do?”

“Well, I guess go back to the motel for now. We need to tell your dad, but standing out here is freezing. Come on. Let’s at least sit in the truck and think about it.”

They rode back to the motel in silence.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave called Paul. Kurt repacked everything they had left in the room and put it in the truck. Once they were sure they hadn’t left anything behind, Dave went and checked out. He came back out and they drove back to Lima.

They stopped at home just long enough for Dave to put their letter jackets inside on the couch in the studio and move their stuff from Burt’s truck to his. Dave followed Kurt back to the Hummel’s. Kurt parked Burt’s truck in the garage. He went through the interior door into the house, left Burt’s key on the foyer table, and came out the front door. Dave hopped out and let Kurt scoot to the middle position since they had put their bags in the passenger seat. Dave got back in. He didn’t pull out of the driveway though.

“So, where to? I know we were going to spend the day in Findlay, but that doesn’t sound all that fun anymore.”

“How about we call Puck? We haven’t seen Sarah in ages and neither one of us can possibly remain gloomy around all her cheerfulness. Let’s offer to take her to Chuck E Cheese or anywhere with an indoor playland for New Year’s. Or we could stop at a grocery store and buy stuff and go there and bake.” Kurt tried to sound cheerful, but hadn’t quite succeeded.

“What do you really want to do?”

“Go home to our room and curl up together and read, but we’re not supposed to be home.”

“We’re going home. We already have food for another meal today and two tomorrow. We’ll just eat out somewhere before we go home. I’ll tell Dad that we’ll stay in our room the whole time.”

Kurt nodded. “I would like to do something fun with Sarah again. Maybe we can arrange something with Santana and Brittany once the Navigator is fixed. We can take Lexi with us. And maybe Sam and Stevie and Stacey. They’re about the same age as Lexi and Sarah.”

“We’ll work on it. I texted Dad. He’s fine with it. Let’s get some lunch and head home. What sounds good?”

“Indian.”

“Call it in.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After they had finished eating, there was a knock at their door. Dave got up and opened it.

“I just wanted to check on the two of you. Judy’s busy doing something right now.”

Kurt said, “I want them in the lock up this time. No more chances. Clearly they are not interested in taking advantage of the one they had. I don’t want them to go some place terrible. So, Findlay is probably okay. Is six months in jail and paying for the damages a possibility? I don’t want to see them. They’re seniors. I want them to finish high school in jail. Online, correspondence, tutors – I don’t care. They don’t need to be in a school influencing any younger students to follow their examples.”

“Alright. When I go over there Monday, I’ll offer a plea agreement with those stipulations. Six months in the Findlay jail, paying for the repairs, and finishing high school?”

Kurt nodded. “I’m just tired of it.”

“I know. It smells good in here.”

“We brought Indian home with us.”

“We can talk more after Burt gets back tomorrow night.” He closed the door behind him.

Dave locked it. “So, snuggling and reading?”

“Yep.”

“I need to shower first. I left as soon as Coach Beiste said I could go because I didn’t see you in the arena where you had been sitting.”

“You want company?”

“Anytime.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When they got out of the shower, they put sweats on. They put their presents for each other on the bed and sat facing each other.

“You go first,” Kurt said.

Dave opened his to find something handmade that he didn’t recognize the function of. He took it and looked at it, still not quite coming up with its purpose.

“Get your backpack.”

Dave got up and put it up on the bed.

“Dump everything out.”

Dave took everything out and organized it into piles. Kurt picked up each of the items and slipped it into a pocket or pouch. Everything had a spot of its own. Once he had everything in it, he opened Dave’s front zippered section on his backpack.

“I already put these velcro strips in your front pocket, see?”

Dave looked and nodded.

“This organizer has the pokey part of the Velcro on it and it fastens in like this.” Kurt fastened the organizer into the interior of the pocket, where it fit perfectly. “Now, your calculator will be right where you can find it. No more digging for pencils or pens or your flash drive or anything.”

“It’s perfect. Thank you.”

“I saw you always struggling to find what you were looking for in class, so I worked on a way to fix it. And if you ever get a different backpack, I can just put Velcro in it and you can still use the organizer.”

“Your turn.”

“It’s awfully big.”

“Open it.”

Kurt took the wrapping paper off and opened the shirt box it was in. When he saw what it was, he put the lid back on. “I can’t.” Inside was the navy Marc Jacobs bag that he had been oogling in a back issue of Vogue on and off for ages.

“What do you mean? Is it not the one you wanted?”

“It is. It’s exactly the one I wanted. That’s why I can’t. It’s too much.”

“If you really don’t want it, I’ll get you something different. You looked at in the magazine so many times. I thought it would be the perfect gift.”

“It’s just too much.” He had tears streaming down his cheeks.

“Come here.” Dave leaned forward and pushed the box to the end of the bed. He held his arms out for Kurt. “Scoot towards me and wrap your legs around my waist.”

Kurt did as he was asked.

“Look, I’m really confused. You seemed to like the bag, but now that you have it, you don’t want it?”

“I do, but I know how much they cost and I don’t you to spend that much on a gift. I made yours. It barely cost anything. Last year you made me the ottoman and I made the bracelets. I thought that’s what we were doing – something handmade or something – I don’t even know. But I do know that the bag is too expensive.”

“Maybe it’s a knock-off? I didn’t pay that much for it. It was happenstance that I even lucked into it.”

“Did you pay more than $100 for it?”

“No.” Dave ran his hand down the back of Kurt’s head and his upper back.

He let Dave comfort him. “Okay. Okay.” He leaned back a bit and kissed him. He pushed back and moved back to where he had been sitting. He opened the box again. He took the bag out, opened it, and looked at the inside.

He showed it to Dave. “It has lot of pockets and pouches built in. And that bottom zipper makes the bag expand. So, most of the time I can keep it zipped up, but when I have extra stuff to add, I can just unzip the zipper and expand the bag. I really do love it. I’m sorry I freaked out. Do you even know the retail price on this bag?”

Dave shook his head.

“I’m pretty sure that it’s around $500.”

“Oh, wow. No wonder you freaked out.

Kurt got up and got his leather crossbody briefcase. He started pulling the stuff from the briefcase. Once everything had been transferred, he got up and put the briefcase on a shelf in their closet. “It’s a lot more casual, it’s a more manageable size for everyday use, and it’s got a lot pockets and features.” He got up and adjusted the strap and looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. He came back in the room with a huge smile on his face. “It’s perfect.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday morning loomed heavy. They had opted not to tell Burt Sunday night when Kurt found out their flight had been delayed and they ended staying wherever Finn was for the night. Paul drove Kurt to the shop and waited for Burt to arrive.

When Burt walked into the shop Monday morning, everyone was quiet. He walked on through and into the bay area. “Holy hell! What happened to your Navigator?”

Kurt turned around from the car he was working on. “That would be Stinson and Johnson’s handiwork. Paul’s in the employee lounge waiting to talk to you.”

“Great, just great.” He grumbled as he turned around to head to the lounge. “What they hell happened while I was gone?”

Paul jumped. “Stinson and Johnson vandalized it Saturday morning in Findlay at the ice rink. They’re in the Findlay jail. I’m on my way over there to deal with it. I’ll need you to come with me since the Navigator is in your name and Kurt’s and he’s not 18.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go. How long is the statute of limitations on vandalism? Can I file charges for something that happened two years ago?”

“Sure.”

“Well, I want to do that too.”

“I can help you with that. Your truck or mine?”

“Yours. I’m too mad to drive right now.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Burt, Paul, the Johnsons, the Stinsons, and the Hancock County public defender all sat at a conference table.

“My client is offering a plea deal.” He passed the documents to the public defender, who distributed a copy to each family.

It didn’t take long for Mr. Johnson to speak up. “Six months in jail? He’ll miss graduation.”

Paul said, “Cleary he doesn’t value his education enough to stop committing crimes. You’ll find that our offer is generous. Feel free to ask your lawyer.”

He looked at them and nodded. “Both defendants are 18. He could push for them to be tried for a fifth degree felony, which would have lifelong consequences. He’s offering a misdemeanor charge as the plea. Trust me this is a big difference. Given the evidence I’ve seen, meaning the photos and the fact that I know that the stadium has security cameras – I’d go with this plea offer. Absolute proof of your guilt in the form of the security feed, provided that they have that, will result in a felony conviction if they pursue it.”

“Well, fuck!” Johnson said. “This sucks. That little fairy freak goes around infecting people with his gayness and I go to jail for six months?”

The public defender spoke. “Watch your language! And clearly both McKinley and Findlay are terrible schools because you think that being gay is contagious. As your attorney, I’d recommend you sign the plea agreement. It’s far better than what you’ll get in a trial.”

“This time I want the cost of the repairs reimbursed within two weeks,” Burt said.

“What?” Mr. Stinson said. “How’s he supposed to do that?”

“Not my problem. Last time that Navigator needed repainted because of the two of you and the other three, you all took months to reimburse me. I had to take a loan for that. I don’t just have $3000 lying around somewhere. You take out loans this time if you have to. I want reimbursed by two weeks from today.”

“I’ll need to add that before you both sign. Give me a few minutes.” Paul took his laptop and left the room.

Burt leaned back in his chair and glared at the fathers. Paul returned with the modified plea deal and passed the copies to the public defender. Stinson and Johnson both signed.

“Unless the judge objects, this will be entered this afternoon. You’ll remain in the Findlay jail until June 1st. Please don’t consider getting anywhere near Kurt or Dave ever again. I’m filing for restraining orders against both of you once you’re released. Keep in mind that if you convince someone else to commit a crime, you’re an accessory or worse.”

Burt added, “If it were up to me, I’d have you tried and sentenced for the longest period of time possible. But Kurt thinks everyone has some potential for redemption. You’re trying his patience though. He gave you a chance to have no record at all and no jail time and you blew it. Come at him again, and I’m not giving him the option to offer you another plea. Mind your own business from now on.” Burt walked out of the room.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Paul dropped Burt off and went to his office. Burt went inside and walked straight to where Kurt was working on another car.

“Paul told me the incident ruined your holiday plans. I’m sorry to hear that.”

“We survived. We’re fine. The insurance adjustor called. He’ll be here his afternoon at 2:00.”

“Good. Once that’s done, we can get it cleaned up.”

“I already ordered two new windows. And we’ve got tires in stock to go on it. Once we get those on and the windows replaced, we can get it out of the bay and into the lot. It’s taking up needed space in here.”

“I know.”

“At least once I get the tires on it this afternoon, I can take it down off the lift.”

“Go back to what you were doing. I’m going to get busy on something else.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt stayed an extra hour to help get caught up from Burt leaving for two hours that the morning. At the end of the day, he ended up driving the Navigator home and parking it in the garage. He had gotten a call from the place that originally said they had the windows, but it turned out they had two driver’s side windows. The windows wouldn’t be in until Thursday. He scheduled the repair work for Friday morning.

When he got home, the house was full of people. Everyone was back in town and had managed to invite themselves over. Kurt hung his coat up and made his way up to their room. He found that Dave and Sam were playing against Azimio and Puck, who were downstairs.

He grabbed some clothes, showered, and changed.   After he tossed his dirty clothes in their laundry basket, he sat down next to Dave on the futon. He scooted as close as he could without impeding Dave’s ability to use his controller.

“Hey, gorgeous. I know it’s been a long day. Somehow word of the incident already made its way through the McKinley High gossip chain, so everyone came over to cheer you up.”

“Define ‘everyone’.”

“All of the Glee Club, except Rachel who is visiting relatives somewhere still. And I didn’t see Finn anywhere.”

“I see. Is there some kind of plan for this get together?”

“They ordered food so that you wouldn’t feel obligated to cook for any of them. It should be here soon. And the only other thing I heard about was a karaoke competition or something after we eat. People brought movies too.”

“I want live music included. Sam, do you know ‘Achy Breaky Heart’?”

“I do.”

“Perfect.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt and Dave made their entrance in their cowboy clothes, boots, and hats. Puck took a seat at the piano and Sam picked up Puck’s acoustic guitar and started to play. Sam started to sing.

_You can tell the world you never was my girl_  
_You can burn my clothes up when I’m gone._

Kurt and Dave joined him on the choruses and did the line dance while singing each time.

_Don't tell my heart,_  
_My achy, breaky heart._  
_I just don't think he'll understand._  
_And if you tell me heart,_  
_My achy, breaky heart,_  
_He might blow up and kill this man._

When the song ended, all four of them took a bow. 

All the girls whooped and hollered. The guys all laughed and bowed again. Several people got up and sang with karaoke back up from YouTube, some more successfully than others because they weren’t familiar with the backing tracks.

Kurt got Puck’s attention. He nodded toward the piano. Puck shrugged and got up. The two of them sat down and played a duet version of Sara Bareilles “Love Song”. They stood up at the end and bowed.

“Okay, so why is it just now that any of us finds out that Puck is a pianist?” Mercedes asked.

“You never asked,” Puck answered, teasing her.

“And Kurt did?”

“Nah, he’s special.” Puck put his arm around Kurt’s shoulders. “I told him myself.”

Kurt laughed. “I think it went like this… ‘Hey, Kurt can I play that piano in the other room?’ And I smarted back with… ‘I don’t know, Puck. CAN you play that piano in the other room?”

Mercedes said, “That sounds more like it.”

Kurt said, “Turns out that Puck has perfect pitch and can play by ear.”

“Nice,” Tina said. She motioned for him to come with her into the foyer.

They came back in and Puck sat down at the piano and Tina began to sing.

_Look at me. I will never pass for a perfect bride or a perfect daughter._  
_Can it be I’m not meant to play this part?_  
_Now I see that if I were truly to be myself, I would break my family’s heart._

_Who is that girl I see staring straight back at me?_  
_Why is my reflection someone I don’t know?_  
_Somehow I cannot hide who I am, though I’ve tried._  
_When will my reflection show who I am inside?_

She continued to sing the second verse and the chorus again. Her voice swelled and soared and was stronger and bolder than anyone had ever heard before. When she finished, she stood silently.

“Oh, my God,” Santana said. “Why in the hell do you let Berry bully you? There will be none of that anymore. We need to have a talk.”

Tina nodded slightly and sat in the space next to Santana.

More people sang, and they were having so much fun, they opted to keep singing instead of watching a movie.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The following Saturday morning, Kurt and Quinn went to ballet together. Dave watched as much as he could, looking through the window on the studio door. Kurt saw him a few times and winked at him.

Judy and Paul joined them for lunch and then went to Dave’s hockey game. McKinley won, putting them 3-0 so far. Dave scored a hat trick and was really excited about it. Quinn rode back to Lima with Judy and Paul. Kurt and Dave stayed behind and went bowling like they had planned to do the weekend before.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sunday evening, Kurt and Dave were lying in bed snuggled up.

Kurt said, “It’s weird that I feel like I really needed this time with it being winter break, but it wasn’t much of a break with us both working and the other thing that happened.”

Dave took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m not ready to go back to school tomorrow, but we don’t have a choice.”

“At least we have half of our classes together. That makes it better.”

“It does. Monday evening was fun. Maybe we could try doing it again some time.”

“That would be fun. Tina killed that song from _Mulan_. We have to get her to do that in Glee. Rachel really does need to hear how good Tina is, and so does Mr. Schue.”


	26. Chapter 26

Despite the fact that no one wanted the school year to start again already, they all trudged back to McKinley Monday morning. That afternoon Glee had their first meeting of the year. As soon as everyone was in the room, Rachel raised her hand.

“Mr. Schue? I have a song I’d like to sing.”

Santana objected. “Rachel, you have a song you’d like to sing every time we get together. I want to hear Tina sing.”

Tina’s expression quickly changed to resolute. She stood up, as did Puck. Brad was surprised when Puck approached the piano, but he got up and let Puck sit down. Puck started the intro and Tina sang for all she was worth. When she finished, she curtsied slightly and sat back down.

“Tina, wow. That blew us away. Great job.”

Rachel looked shocked.

Kurt raised his hand. “Mr. Schue, I need to talk to Rachel in private.”

“You two can go in my office.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They both sat down.

“Look Rachel, I read through the entirety of that show choir rule book. There’s nothing in there specifically about bullying students from joining a show choir, but that’s probably because decent schools have rules against bullying in general. But you need to stop bullying members of the group.”

“What do you mean?”

“When school started this year, we had the opportunity to get another really good singer in our group and you bullied her. You put her life in danger. That was the exact opposite of what a leader does. A leader does everything in their power to make those they lead the best they can be in a positive way. And a leader protects the members of their group.”

“I know. The truth is I was jealous. I was afraid. I thought Sunshine would take my place. I know you told me that if I want to sing lead on every song, I should start a band and hold auditions for back up singers and band members. But the truth is that no one would audition to be in my band. I want to sing show tunes and ballads. No one around here wants to hear that type of music, much less join a band and rehearse it.”

“I get that. Most of us will be out of high school in a year and a half. Do you seriously think any university professor will put up with your entitled princess attitude? Do you think anyone you work for will put up with you walking out when something doesn’t go your way? No one will, Rachel. No one. Everyone in this group is a good singer. And this is a club. We have enough people to compete without you. This is your last chance. You are an amazing singer, but you are not a good member of this group. Make up your mind. I’m going back in the classroom. You can sit and think. You can rejoin and compete with us – WITH us. If you can put all of your energy into making this the best group, not into how you can push yourself into the spotlight, then come back in. If not, this is where we part ways.”

She nodded.

“You can be the best without making everyone else feel worthless. You could be the best back up singer you can be when you’re in the background. Everyone knows that Mike and Brittany are the best dancers for the type of dancing this group needs to do, but neither one of them refuses to participate if they’re not up front in the spotlight. Unless you want to continue to be alone with no friends, you have to learn that being the best isn’t an excuse to push others down or to the back.”

“I just want to shine.”

“Think about this. Look in that room. How many of those people want to be performers as their career?”

“I don’t know.”

“Let’s narrow it down more. How many of those people want to be Broadway stars?”

“Maybe you.”

“Are we in direct competition for lead roles in a musical or play?”

“No.”

“Then don’t act like we are here. And the rest of those people will not be competing with you for lead roles on Broadway either. You’re going to go on from here and shine bright. Most of those people will never step foot on a stage again after they graduate. They may shine once on a high school stage during a club meeting. Don’t take that from them by insisting that every moment of club meetings is time for you to shine.”  

Kurt got up and went back inside the classroom. He sat down next to Dave and joined in the vocal warm ups. He put his hand on Dave’s thigh. Dave scooted his chair closer and wrapped his arm around the back of Kurt’s chair and gently rubbed circles on Kurt’s shoulder with his thumb, causing Kurt to smile at his touch.

Rachel came back in and sat down.

“Regionals. We have 8 weeks until Regionals. We’re going to try something new this year. Original songs. We’re going to work on writing one song as a group and I want everyone who’s interested to try to write a solo, either for yourself or for someone else in the group to sing. We’ll work on this for three weeks. If at the end of three weeks, we don’t have anything we can use for Regionals, we’ll choose songs and start to practice. I think five weeks gives us enough time to prepare. Over the next three weeks, I want each of you to sing a solo for the group. Tina did a magnificent job. Rachel you can go next. And if anyone else has something prepared for today, they can go as well. We’ll spend the first 10-15 minutes of class listening to each other sing for the next three weeks. And I really want you all to listen to each other. We’re also going to do some choral exercises each time we meet. Rachel, if you would.”

She nodded. She stood up and came down front. “I want to sing this song. I know that it’s not about my particular situation with this group, but it still applies. It’s not my usual style, but the meaning spoke to me over break when I was thinking about a lot of things.”

_I’m so glad you made time to see me._  
_How’s life? Tell me how’s your family?_  
_I haven’t seen them in a while._  
_You’ve been good, busier than ever._  
_We small talk – work and the weather._

_Your guard is up and I know why._  
_Because the last time you saw me_  
_Is still burned in the back of your mind._  
_You gave me roses and I left them there to die._

_So this is me swallowing my pride_  
_Standing in front of you saying I’m sorry for that night_  
_And I go back to December all the time._  
_It turns out freedom ain’t nothing but missing you,_  
_Wishing I’d realized what I had when you were mine._  
_I’d go back to December, turn around and make it all right._  
_I go back to December all the time._  
_…_  
_I’d go back in time and change it, but I can’t._  
_So, if the chain is on your door, I understand._  
_But this is me swallowing my pride,_ <  
_Standing in front of you saying I’m sorry for that night._  
_…_  
_I go back to December all the time._

“I look back at what I did in September and I wish I could go back in time and change it, but I can’t. You all gave me a chance last year, like the roses in the song, and I hurt everyone again. And I did something really wrong and I’m ashamed of myself. It really took a lot of soul searching to get there and after I did, I felt even more ashamed that I didn’t feel bad right away. I didn’t want Sunshine to take my place and I felt justified in keeping her away from the club. It felt like a war and I had to do whatever it took to win and stay on top. But Glee is supposed to be about joy and I lost that joy. I’m looking for it. I hope you all can forgive me and let compete with you at Regionals.” She sat back down.

“Actually, Rachel if you could step out in the hall for a couple of minutes, we’ll let you know,” Mr. Schue said.

She nodded and went out in the hall.

“Thoughts?” he asked.

Tina said, “I think she means it. She was going to sing that song first off, even before Kurt talked to her.”

“No third chance,” Santana said. “She can’t walk out or bully anyone in the group anymore.”

Mr. Schue asked, “Is anyone opposed to her rejoining, provided that she doesn’t do those things anymore?”

No one said anything. He walked to the door and let her back in. She took her seat again.

“So, the verdict was unanimous that you can rejoin, with the understanding that you won’t storm out or bully anyone in the group or anyone who wants to join the group.”

She nodded. “Thank you.”

“Alright, we’re going to sing ‘Valerie’ to get us singing together again.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Not quite two weeks later on Thursday, Rachel raised her hand after Puck, Artie, and Mercedes had sung their solos that had been Mr. Schue assigned the first day back to school.

“Yes, Rachel?”

“Now that everyone has had a chance to sing their solos, I’d like to share the song I wrote with everyone.”

“Sure. Come on down.”

“Right now, I’ll just sing it a cappella because I don’t really know how to write the orchestration for it.”

_What have I done?_  
_I wish I could run_  
_Away from this ship going under._  
_Just trying to help, hurt everyone else._  
_Now I feel the weight of the world is on my shoulders._

_What can you do when your good isn’t good enough?_  
_And all that you touch tumbles down?_  
_‘Cause my best intentions_  
_Keep making a mess of things._  
_I just want to fix it somehow._

_But how many times will it take?_  
_Oh, how many times will it take for me to get it right?_  
_To get it right?_

_Can I start again with my faith shaken?_  
_‘Cause I can’t go back and undo this._  
_I just have to stay and face my mistakes._  
_But if I get stronger and wiser,_  
_I’ll get through this._

_What can you do when your good isn’t good enough?_  
_And all that you touch tumbles down?_  
_‘Cause my best intentions_  
_Keep making a mess of things._  
_I just want to fix it somehow._

_But how many times will it take?_  
_Oh, how many times will it take for me to get it right?_

_So I throw up my fist, throw a punch in the air_  
_And accept the truth that sometimes life isn’t fair._  
_Yeah, I’ll send out a wish. Yeah, I’ll send up a prayer_  
_That finally someone will see how much I care._

_What can you do when your good isn’t good enough?_  
_And all that you touch tumbles down?_  
_‘Cause my best intentions_  
_Keep making a mess of things._  
_I just want to fix it somehow._

_But how many times will it take?_  
_Oh, how many times will it take?_  
_To get it right?_  
_To get it right?_

Everyone broke out in applause.

Kurt stood. “Oh, my God, Rachel. That’s perfect. It’s beautiful.”

She stood smiling and crying. “You really think so?”

Santana chimed in. “It is. We have to sing that for Regionals. It needs choir back up though. Like you sing the first verse and people gradually join in. And then by the end, we’re all singing. And it’s huge and full sounding and amazing.”

Mercedes said, “I really like it. The words are easy to understand. I think everyone can identify with it.”

Mr. Schue declared, “Well, we have our first Regionals song. Great job, Rachel.”

She sat down.

“We need to get back to work on our group piece. We’ve got the chorus and a verse. Let’s get working on two more verses.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt stopped Rachel before she left the choir room. “I think you’re getting it right this time.”

“Thanks.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The following Thursday, they had finished the lyrics and melody for their group song, which they titled “Loser Like Me”. They had come up with the idea after Mr. Schue had talked about how various artists hadn’t had the best lives before they became famous. And they used their own experiences to draw upon as well.

“That’s it. We’re done,” Mr. Schue said. “Let’s see if we can put it together and sing it. After we sing it through a couple of times, we need to decide whether any parts of it will be sung by featured singers or whether we’re doing the whole song together.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Like every other Saturday morning, the second Saturday in February, Kurt, Dave, and Quinn drove to Findlay. First was ballet, and then Dave’s hockey game. This time Quinn drove separately because Dave’s game didn’t start until 4:30 and Quinn didn’t want to wait around that long.

This wasn’t the first late afternoon game, and Kurt and Dave had found the Findlay library a few weeks back so they could do homework. Dave finished up what homework he had while Kurt was in class. When they got to the library, Dave found a book to read and sat down in one of the chairs near a window and started to read. Kurt sat at a table with his math book open and his notebook out, but he was staring off in the distance. He startled when he phone vibrated with a text.

\--What’s up? You’re staring off into space.

\--Just thinking. I’ll get to work.

Kurt copied the first problem down and began to work on it. He decided that trigonometry was the first math class that he might not be able to get an A in. He looked at the examples and began to work, but got frustrated and shut the book a little more forcefully than was acceptable for a library. He closed his notebook and put it on top of the book. He folded his arms on the table and put his head down on them.

After a few minutes, he sat back up and pulled out his Spanish book instead and completed the worksheet he needed to do. He listened to some music and switched to classical songs by Chopin and opened his math book again. He slogged through the problems.

Once he was done with the problems, he read the assigned chapter in the novel he was reading for French. In his French notebook, he wrote down each word that he had to look up and wrote the definition down from the French dictionary he was supposed to use.

By 3:30, he had finished everything except his assigned English reading, which he could do while sitting in the stadium waiting for the game to start. He packed all of his stuff up and went to get Dave. He had finished reading the book he picked up and was just waiting for Kurt to be ready to leave. He left the book behind on the cart to be reshelved on their way out.

Dave took Kurt’s hand as they stepped outside. “Something’s up.”

“I’m just tired.”

“Physically tired or mentally tired?”

“Mostly the second. There was a text on my phone when I looked at it after I changed my clothes when we got out of class.” Kurt climbed into the center and put his bag next to him in the passenger seat.

“What did it say?” Dave started his truck and let it warm up a bit before backing out.

“For me to come to dinner alone Monday night.”

“I thought there was no Family Dinner Monday night since it’s Valentine’s Day.”

“That’s what I thought, but I guess I thought wrong. I’m sorry if it messes up your plans.”

“Are you still going at 6:00?”

“I guess so.”

“Alright. It’s fine.” He reached out for Kurt’s hand. “We’re fine. Look at me.”

Kurt turned. His eyes met Dave’s and he could see the concern and love. He nodded.

Dave leaned towards him and kissed him gently. He turned back, put the truck in reverse, and drove to the ice rink. When they got there, Kurt took just his English paperback book in with him. He put his earbuds in and read while the hockey teams warmed up. About 10 minutes before the game was due to start, Paul came down the row and sat next to him. Kurt had finished the chapter, but was still listening to music. He turned it off and took his earbuds out, wrapped the cord around his phone, and put the phone in his interior coat pocket.

“Hey, Paul.”

“How’s it going?”

“I finished all my schoolwork – finally.”

“That’s good. Do you two have plans this evening?”

“As far as I know we don’t. I may just go home and sleep. I’m tired.”

“It’s a good time of year for that. Hibernation time.”

Kurt nodded.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After the game ended, Kurt waited for Dave in the truck. When he saw the team start to come out, he turned the engine over and blasted the heat to clear the windows. Dave climbed in and sat in the center, pulling his duffle in behind him. When he turned to look at Kurt he was met with a kiss.

“Congratulations! Regional Champs. Next week, the game will be in Columbus somewhere, right?”

“Yeah. Coach gave us the name of the place today. We can look it up. I want to stay overnight and do something fun together on Sunday.”

“Okay.”

“You can look when we get home. I think I just want to shower and get in bed. I know it won’t even be 7:00 by then, but I’m just tired.”

“Shower together and snuggle?”

“Sounds perfect.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday after school, rather than their traditional double or triple date or a group of them going out, Kurt and Dave went home alone. When they got home, they hung their coats up, changed into sweats and t-shirts, and headed back down to the kitchen.

They put their aprons on and started working on their meal. Kurt pulled the ingredients out and handed them to Dave, who put them all on the island. Dave washed and dried the spinach, broccoli, and carrots and chopped the broccoli and carrots while Kurt sautéed the chicken. As soon as the chicken was done, he sautéed the spinach in the garlic that was in the pan. He turned the heat off. He was careful to make sure that Dave didn’t have the knife in his hand and he wrapped his arms around him and kissed him on the back of the neck.

“The chicken and spinach are done.”

“Everything is chopped.”

Kurt let go and went back to the stove to make the alfredo sauce. Dave got busy shredding cheese. Once everything was ready, they assembled their triple veggie chicken parmesan lasagna that had come up with on their own, which they both really loved. Kurt put the dish in the oven. Dave took the skillet and washed it. As soon as he put it in the dish drain, Kurt picked it up and dried it and put it away. He turned back around and took Dave’s hand. He led him into the studio and turned on his iPod.

“Dance with me?”

Kurt didn’t get a spoken answer. Dave stepped closer and wrapped his arms around him. They dance around and eventually ended up swaying in place and kissing.

“Let’s snuggle on the couch until the timer goes off,” Kurt suggested.

Dave walked over to the couch and propped one of the throw pillows on the arm. He lay down on his back and Kurt knelt in the small space between Dave’s knees and lay down on top of him and turned on his side a bit so all of his weight wasn’t on Dave. He ran his fingers through the hair over Dave’s ear and Dave turned his face towards Kurt and kissed him.

Kurt said, “I’m excited about spring break. I can’t believe we’re going to go back to New York for a week.”

“It will be fun. We can go back and visit the schools we think we like best and actually spend the whole day there observing classes and talking to people. And then we can go back into the City on the train. This time we’re going to spend the whole day in the natural history museum.”

They continued to kiss and talk about their plans until the timer went off. They got up and went in the kitchen. Kurt pulled the dish out and put it on the stovetop to cool. Dave got plates out and a spatula to serve it with. Kurt trapped Dave against the counter as he turned around with the spatula. He snagged it from him and put it behind him on the counter and pressed up against him kissing him again.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” he said in between kisses. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Kurt ran his hands up under the edges of Dave’s t-shirt sleeves. Dave laughed and slid his hands down to Kurt’s butt and held him tighter, causing Kurt to laugh too. He moved his hands to Dave’s neck and ran his thumbs along Dave’s jaw line.

He kissed Dave again, and then said, “Let’s eat.”

He grabbed the spatula and turned back toward the stove and cut two sections and plated them. Dave carried them both to the dining table. Kurt grabbed the sparkling grape juice they’d bought and two wine glasses from the cabinet and took them to the table. He poured each of them a glass, and then sat down. They started feeding each other bites a few minutes into their meal.

When they finished, Dave said, “Leave it. I’ll clean up. I know you need to leave to be on time.”

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“I’ll be here.”

Kurt ran upstairs, put a hoodie and shoes on and came back down. Dave handed him his coat and kissed him before he left.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt hung his coat on the coat tree in the foyer. He followed Burt into the living room. “Where is everyone else?”

“Not here. I’m not sure where Finn went. Maybe to Mike’s. Neither one of them are seeing anyone right now. Carole went out. I’m meeting her later for dinner.”

“Okay. Why did you want me to come over?”

“Have a seat.”

Burt plopped down on one end of the sectional. Kurt sat down on the other.

“So, we obviously didn’t choose any of those houses we looked at the day you went with us.”

“Right.”

“We’ve been out with the realtor quite a few times, but we finally found a place that we like last week. We put in an offer and it was accepted Friday. We’ll close and be able to move in three or four weeks from now, but we’re going to move in the end of spring break week.”

“What’s the house like?”

“Well, we thought about what you said about not wanting our room upstairs when we get older. We found a place that’s similar to one of those first places we looked at. The original one-car garage was turned into a master suite and the other two rooms are on the other side of the house. It has a living room that’s separate and then a dining room, kitchen, and family room. And a two-car garage was added. I can’t really describe the layout. You’ll see it when we move in.”

“Well, I’m glad you found something you like.”

“There’s room for the piano and Finn’s drum set in the den.”

Kurt didn’t say anything for a minute. “So you want Mom’s piano back?”

Burt looked confused at first. “I don’t want the piano back. You’re moving back in, so obviously the piano will come back with you.”

“I’m not moving.”

“You are. We’re going to Tennessee for five days for spring break and then we’re moving into the new house – all four of us.”

“I’m going to New York for spring break.”

“You’re going to Tennessee for spring break with us. I let you get away with refusing to spend Christmas with us in Hawaii, but you’re going with us to Tennessee.”

“No. I have no interest in going to Tennessee. We’ve been there before. It’s beautiful, yes. But I want to go to New York like I’ve already planned.”

“This is a family trip and you are a member of this family. You’re going with us. We’re driving the Navigator because we can all fit in it comfortably.”

“Are there any more demands, your highness?”

“Don’t you smart off to me, young man.”

“When are we leaving?”

“Friday as soon as school lets out.”

“I work Fridays after school.”

“Not that Friday, you won’t.”

“If there’s nothing else, I’m going to go.”

“Kurt, I don’t want you to leave here angry. This is supposed to be something good. We’re taking a family trip.”

“I already had a family trip planned. I’ll leave the Navigator here Thursday evening so you can pack it with whatever is going. If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving.” He stood up and walked toward the door.

“What do you want from me, Kurt? I tried to plan something that I knew you’d like. We bought a house where we can all fit.”

“Is Finn getting a job?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“I’m just wondering whether he’s going to start covering his own expenses or whether you’re going to start covering mine.” He grabbed his coat and put it on. “You can let me know the answer to that. It’s Valentine’s Day and I get to go tell the man I love that I can’t go on the trip we’ve planned to New York and that I’m moving out in month.” He opened the door and closed it behind him with a thwump.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt didn’t drive straight home. He sat in the driveway thinking and willing himself not to cry. He could live through five months. He kept telling himself that his dad loved him and that he was doing this because he thought it was the right thing to do. Eventually, he calmed down enough that he could drive. He headed home. When he got there, he let himself in, hung his coat up, and went upstairs. Dave wasn’t in their room. Kurt went ahead and undressed and got in the shower. A few minutes later, he heard the bathroom door open.

“Kurt?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought we were going to shower together.”

“We are as soon as you get in.” He stuck his hand out and used his index finger to beckon Dave into the shower.

Dave laughed. He went back and locked the door to their room. He stripped and got in the shower. “You’ve been crying.” He reached and wiped the tears from Kurt’s cheeks, even though they were mixed with the water dripping down his face.

“Yeah. I was trying not to, but I didn’t succeed. I was trying to push it all away for the evening, but I failed.”

“What happened?” He reached for Kurt’s shampoo and lathered up his hair while he listened to Kurt.

“Dad and Carole bought a house. I have to move in at the end of spring break. And he’s planned a family spring break trip for the four of us to Tennessee.”

“But we’ve already planned to go to New York.” He massaged Kurt’s scalp and then turned him to rinse the shampoo out.

“I told him that. He got really emotional and said that he doesn’t know what to do because he’s trying and he planned a trip that I would like. And that I can’t get out of it because I already refused to go with them to Hawaii. We’re going for five days and coming back and moving everything to the new house including the piano and all of my stuff.” Kurt reached for Dave’s shampoo and began to do his hair.

“Our tickets aren’t refundable.”

“I know. I’ll just end up losing the money unless you can find someone else that wants to go with you. You could take Azimio. He doesn’t even have to pay me back. It would be better than wasting the ticket.” He ran his hands through Dave’s hair the way he liked before he grabbed the sprayer and rinsed his hair.

“I don’t want to give up just yet.”

Kurt hung the sprayer back up. “There’s no point in fighting it. I’ll just have to deal for five months. It’s not what I want, but life’s not always filled with what people want. So, I’ll move into the new house like he wants and I’ll do what he wants until my birthday, and then I’m moving back here with you.”

“I don’t want to go to New York with Azimio. I want to go with you.”

Kurt kissed him. “I know, sweetie. I don’t know how to fix this. I can’t just defy him. I’m not 18. I don’t want to screw up keeping Puck out of foster care. If my dad raises a ruckus, the judge might rescind your dad’s temporary guardianship. I won’t do that to Puck.”

Dave didn’t say anything else. They just quickly finished up their shower and got out and dried off. Dave shaved and Kurt did his moisturizing. Dave grabbed his clothes on the way out. They both put pajama bottoms and hoodies on.

“We’re going to talk to my dad tomorrow. He’s not home right now anyway. It’s just the two of us. Puck won’t be back until 10:00.”

“I still have homework to do,” Kurt said. He pulled his math book and notebook out and sat down at Dave’s desk. “I can go do it downstairs if you need your desk.”

“No. Stay here. I mostly have reading to do.”

“Okay.”

Kurt spent the next two hours working on homework. Dave finished his and read a book while Kurt still worked. Once Kurt had finished, he stacked everything up.

“Do you want to keep reading or go to bed?”

Dave closed his book and put it on the shelf. “Snuggle in bed.” He got up and turned the lights off.

They both got in bed and snuggled up.

“Since we’re not going to sleep just yet, will you turn over and lie on me instead of being the little spoon?”

“Sure.” Kurt turned over and wrapped himself around Dave. “Better?”

“Much.”

Dave reached up behind him and pulled the lovers cape Kurt had made down. “I want to be able to feel you. Can we take the hoodies off?”

“Yeah.”

They put the hoodies over the headboard instead and covered up with the cape and snuggled back up.

“Better?”

“Infinitely better.” He ran his hand down Kurt’s arm. “I love the feel of your skin against mine.”

“Me too.” Kurt ran his fingers across Dave’s chest. “You’re not going to break up with me if I move into the new house with them are you?”

Dave kissed him on the forehead. “No, of course not. I’ll miss you like crazy. This is my favorite time of day when we just hold each other and talk. My bed will feel wrong until you move back. You know I love you. Five months might feel like forever, but it’s not. We’ll do what we have to get through it. I’m not giving you up.”

“I’m not willingly giving you up either. I know it seems like I am, but I’m not.”

“I get it. This affects more than just us. I don’t want Puck sent to who knows where either. The first time he wanted you to move back with them, he said you could sleep away from the house four nights a week. Did he change that?”

“He didn’t say anything, but when he said something about the piano, it just felt final – like I wouldn’t be here anymore. I was too upset to ask. I’ll have to give up ballet too if I’m not allowed over here very often.”

“Let’s just try not to think the worst case scenario up right now.”

“Okay.” He pushed up the bed enough that he could kiss Dave. “How about we kiss for a while?”

Dave’s lips met his in a gentle kiss.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Saturday morning, Kurt and Quinn had to skip ballet to be able to leave in time to watch Dave play in the State Quarter-Finals game. After a lot of consideration, Kurt and Dave had decided not to spend the night in Columbus. Dave took the bus to the arena with the team. The other four went in Kurt’s Navigator so they could all ride back together.

It was a close game, but in the end McKinley lost 3-2. They waited in the stadium for Dave to be ready to leave. They left and went out to late lunch. They went to the $1 theater to watch a movie before heading back to Lima.

When they got up the next morning, they were glad about the decision they had made about not staying in Columbus when they went down for breakfast and saw six inches of snow that had been predicted. Puck came in and ate with them, having made the decision not to go to Columbus for the weekend for the same reason.

After lunch, they went outside and built snowmen and had a snowball fight.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Thursday morning, Coach Beiste had a call out meeting 15 minutes before school that she requested all of the guys who played any sport to attend.

“Listen up, guys. I’d like to turn the baseball program at this school around just like we have the football and hockey teams. But I don’t have enough guys who’ve signed up. So, I’ve called you all here to ask you to consider trying out. I’m going to hold indoor catching practice and pitching practice starting next week. I’ll bring in a cage with a meter on it to show how fast you’re throwing and with a target in it to judge your accuracy. If I don’t round up a few more guys, McKinley won’t have a baseball team this spring. So, think it over. I know some of you are playing basketball for me right now. Baseball practices won’t officially start until after basketball ends. For next week, we’ll practice for an hour after school on Tuesday and Wednesday. I hope some of you will come. Thanks for coming in this morning.”

Dave and Kurt got up and went to their first period class and sat down together in the back like usual. No one else was there yet since class wasn’t set to start for 10 minutes. Dave leaned over and kissed Kurt right below the ear and whispered, “I love you.”

Kurt reached for his hand under the desk and squeezed it. “I love you too.”

“So, baseball?”

Kurt made a face like he was going to be sick. “Stirrup pants.”

Dave laughed.

“I guess it depends on what Dad says about the new house rules and whether I’ll be allowed to spend the afternoons and evenings at home with you. If I’m not allowed to, I’d be inclined to join the team if you do just to avoid sitting in the house with Finn. I’ll know more later since Dad’s picking me up after school and taking me to see the new house.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Hey, bud. How was school?”

“Same as always. Teachers basically tell us the same thing they assigned us to read the night before, so listening to them talk is pretty boring. They collect homework they never grade. Rinse, wash, repeat.”

“Well, the realtor’s meeting us in 20 minutes. You want something to eat or drink?”

“No, thanks. I’m fine.”

“How’s Glee Club going?”

“Good. We’re working on our pieces for Regionals. Rachel’s singing a balled and Mike and Brittany and Quinn and I are dancing while she’s singing. The rest of the group is spread out around the stage in small groups of two or three singing back up. The other song is a group song and it will look more like the pieces you saw us do last year where everyone sings and dances.”

“Sounds nice.”

“I think so.”

Burt pulled up in the driveway of the new house. They got out. Kurt wandered around to the back and opened the gate on the fence and went into the backyard. To his right, he could see a nearly square addition that was in the center of the house. It had a patio door and a covered concrete patio. He walked around the addition to see the other side of the yard. There was a tilled area that mirrored the patio on the opposite side that had been a vegetable garden. He walked back around and out of the backyard, latching the gate behind him. A few minutes later, the realtor pulled up.

“Afternoon, Burt.”

Burt tipped his head down in greeting. “Roger.”

Roger opened the house and let them inside. The front door opened directly into the living room. Kurt immediately thought about how it was nearly identical to Quinn’s house in layout. He went in and looked around. His exploration led him to confirm his original opinion. The layout was in essence the same, with slight variations. The bedroom closets were much smaller due to the bathroom layout. The kitchen was it’s own room and had a different layout for the cabinets. The dining table would go in the kitchen. He could see how the original laundry room had been turned into a bathroom for the master suite, which also had a walk-in closet. The washer and dryer had been moved to the area that had originally been a porch off the dining area in the kitchen. The laundry room had a door into the 2-car garage that had been added on. There was room for the freezer Burt had bought and the washer and dryer, plus a lot of extra space that could be used for a pantry or storage. He walked through the dining area into the addition he had seen from the outside, which was obviously the family room that Burt had mentioned. He went back to the area with the two bedrooms. He looked in both. They were mirror images of each other. Kurt stepped into one of them and Burt followed him.

“I thought maybe we could build shelves across the walls with the windows like you said you did in Quinn’s room. That way both of you would have more places to put stuff.”

“These rooms are pretty small. I’d say 11x12. I’ll make you a deal. I’ll design and build the shelving for all three bedrooms if you don’t make me go to Tennessee. Let me go to New York and I’ll paint all three bedrooms whatever color you want them painted and I’ll do the shelving. I’ll even redo the closets in these two rooms to make them more efficient since they’re so small. You have to fund all of it, but I’ll do the labor and designs. I’ll do it in the evenings the week before spring break since you said you actually get possession of the house the week before. You can schedule me off that week and I’ll work here instead. I can give Puck the hours.”

“Why are so against going to Tennessee? You loved it when went the last time.”

“That’s because you went with ME the last time. We hiked and fished and camped together. We went up to the top of the Smoky Mountains together. If the four of us go, it will be you and Carole doing things together, or you and Finn doing things together and me left with Finn or Carole. I could take a vow of silence before we go and no one would notice the difference.”

“We’re going to go fishing and hiking.”

“You’ll be fishing with Finn because the only time he’s fished was at the football campouts. He’ll need help getting the lures or bait on the hooks. He’ll need pointers and help reeling anything in. He’ll need constant supervision to prep the fish. It won’t be like going camping with me and Dave and Paul where we all knew what we were doing and enjoyed being together. I doubt Carole’s been camping much, if at all. Finn hadn’t been camping before the football campouts. Who knows if she’ll even like it? Are we taking two tents or three? Finn won’t want to share with me. And I doubt he’ll want to sleep alone in a tent either. You thought about taking me camping and how that is. It won’t be like that. Your attention will be divided between trying to keep Finn occupied and trying to keep Carole from being bored. And I’ll just be there in the background.”

“You really think that?”

“I know so. You and Finn have plenty of things to talk about and he’ll want to talk to you. He’s wanted a dad his whole life. He told me so. Unless Carole really likes camping, all I see her doing is taking the Navigator and leaving the campsite to go into Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg to enjoy the sights and the shops. And as much as I enjoy shopping, there’s not a lot in the country western style that appeals to me – a really nice leather belt perhaps. Plus the stores are super crowded during spring break weeks.”

“What were you going to do in New York?”

“We’re staying in a place outside the city. Dave and I were going to visit schools again. We’re going to go to the American Museum of Natural History for the day, and to one art museum, but we hadn’t picked which one yet. But since colleges have spring break earlier than high schools, all of the schools will be in session and we were going to visit them and observe the classes and make some final decisions on where we want to apply.”

“Is it just you and Dave?”

“No, Paul and Judy are going. Quinn is going with Frannie to Florida for spring break. She took a week off from work to take Quinn. Puck is spending the week at Azimio’s so he can work the 60 hours he requested. He’s just off the two Saturdays so he can go to see Sarah for four days out of the nine.”

“I see.”

“Does Finn even know about the trip?”

“Not yet. We’re going to talk about it this weekend, well probably at dinner tomorrow evening.”

Roger stopped in the doorway. “Have you seen what you needed to see?”

“Did you get the closing date?”

“Yes. Next Friday at 3:00.”

“So, you’d have next weekend to do those things.”

“Get Carole to choose the paint color for your room by next Friday. I already know the colors for these two rooms. If I can get the keys at closing, I can come in and do the measurements or if there’s time I could do it now and I could get the boards cut and painted ahead of time, which would make it a lot easier next weekend.”

“Look, Burt. I need to go show another house, but we’ve known each other forever. Just stay here until I get back and I’ll leave you two here to measure whatever you need to.”

“That’s fine.”

Kurt went out to the truck and got one of his notebooks and a pencil. He grabbed the tape measure Burt kept in the glove box. He sketched all three areas and took very careful measurements and wrote them on the sketches. When he finished, he sketched the closets and measured them.

“Is there anything else you want built?”

“Carole mentioned shelving in the laundry area. I’m thinking of putting my desk in there as well.”

Kurt opened the door to the small room and looked at it. “Well, even though this space is pretty big for a laundry room, if you want to put your desk in here too, I’d suggest you continue to stack the washer and dryer. Put the freezer to the left, so it’s right as you step into the room. You could put shelving above it that would allow Carole to hang dry clothing and then on the long wall and this short wall with the door, you can put pantry shelving and leave room for your desk at the far end, under the window. On the short wall to the side of the desk, next to the door coming in from the garage, you could put shelving to keep your folders and stuff you have on that shelf above the desk in your office now.”

“That sounds fine. I’ll buy the shelving for that as well. Go ahead and measure what we’d need.”

Kurt made more sketches and measured everything. “If this room is being painted, I’ll need the color for that as well. It will need painted before I start to install the shelving.”

“Write down what you want us to choose.”

Kurt texted him the items. “What are you going to put in the family room besides Finn’s drum set?”

“His TV and gaming system. The futon. The small couch thing that you used to sleep on. The recliner. That small desk in the living room can go in your bedroom if you want it. Finn already has a desk.”

“Why would I bring the futon here to put in the family room? I bought that from you fair and square. I’m taking that with me when I go to New York. It can’t be part of the furniture for this house. I’d like an extra-long twin bed for my room too. Let Finn keep the bed you had gotten for me since it’s been redone to fit under his bed for when he has people sleep over.”

“You’ll need to pick it out.”

“I’ll find one, put it on hold, and let you know where so you can pay for it. I’ll need bed linens for it as well."

“Add it to the list. Oh, we talked about the financial issues. You can quit working during the rest of the school year and I will cover your insurance and phone. You’ll still need to pay for all that skin care stuff. I’ll give you $15 a month towards it.”

“So you want me to quit the shop? How will I save any money for college?”

“You can go back to work when school gets out.”

“So, I’m going to be free to do what I want in the afternoons?”

“That’s when you get can your schoolwork done instead of spending all evening on it every evening.”

“So, I can go out in the evenings?”

“No, you can stay home on school nights.”

“So, Dave can come over here in the afternoons and evenings?”

“No. No boyfriends or girlfriends over without one of us here. No guests on school nights.”

“But I still only have to stay here three nights a week, right?”

“Actually, we talked about it. Finn’s only allowed to sleepover somewhere on Fridays and Saturdays, so that’s what you’ll be allowed as well.”

“So, I have to come home, do my schoolwork, then spend all evening doing nothing but I have to do it here. And I can only go to Dave’s after you get home from work on Friday and stay on the weekends?”

“I want you to have time to relax. Your schedule was crazy.”

“But you’re cutting Dave out of my life basically.”

“Kurt you’re young. You’re too invested in this relationship.”

“I’ve been with him four months longer than you’ve been with Carole. I’ve been living with him 24/7 for basically as long as you’ve been living with Carole. How would you like it if I showed up and told you that you had to move out and live with me and you could see Carole in a classroom setting for three hours a day, plus an extra classroom hour two days a week, and then the only other time you could see her is on the weekends?”

“I should have never let you move out.”

“I’ll have to quit ballet. If I can’t go to Dave’s on weekdays, Quinn and I can’t practice.”

“She’s allowed here after school.”

“Yeah, like she’d come here with Finn here. And where would we practice? There’s not enough room in here. I already have a studio.”

“This was supposed to make it easier on you.”

“You keep deciding things like you have some sort of insight into what would make my life easier. What would make my life easier would be for you to let me stay where I am happy and where I’m comfortable. I could work two days a week instead of three and you could pay for my phone or groceries and I could spend that evening over here watching a movie with you or something since I could do my schoolwork during the time I’d normally work. I don’t want empty free time to sit in a bedroom. I can’t dance in there. I can’t put the piano in there. All I can do in there is read and listen to music. That’s what I’ll be doing all evening every weekday. That’s it. Other than watching a movie with you if you want me to. I guess I could Skype with Dave and he and I can still talk to each other. Kind of stupid if you ask me, but obviously I don’t get a say in any of this. But I’m not bringing the futon back here. I paid for it. It’s staying where it is. You can demand that the piano be returned since it’s technically Mom’s. Everything else I took with me is my personal property.” Kurt added keyed bedroom doorknob to the list he was making on his phone. Kurt hopped up on the counter and sat down. “Look, I know what you want. You want to have with me what you have with Finn. I get that. And as much as I would like to give that to you, I can’t. You two like the same things. I joined the football team. I’ve played two seasons. I got MVP both seasons. We won the state championship because of me. All that proves is that being good at something and liking something aren’t the same thing. I still don’t like to watch football games. I don’t like watching sports on TV. I can sit there with you, but that natural enthusiasm that Finn has while watching isn’t part of my nature. Just like you can sit there while I watch something that interests me. No amount of explaining what is going on in the cooking process will make you interested in watching a cooking show. You and I just have different interests for the most part. But that doesn’t make me love you less. But forcing me to do things I don’t like will not make me like them more.”

“I keep trying to fix things and I feel like every step I take is wrong.”

“That’s because sometimes there isn’t a way to fix something in a way that makes everyone happy. This house could have worked fine for the four of us, if you had picked a place like this for us to move in together originally. And if we had sat down and hammered out some rules that made sense for everyone. Like the rule about not going places on school nights? Why is that even an issue?”

“That’s new because Finn needs to get his schoolwork done and he has people over after school. They leave when we come home because he needs to do his schoolwork.”

“So, I’m going to have to come home and try to do schoolwork while there’s a bunch of people here making noise? How is that helpful? I have to be here from the time school lets out until I go to bed because Finn wants to horse around after school, and then do his schoolwork in the evenings? While I could be spending that entire time with the person I love in a quiet setting, getting my schoolwork done, playing the piano, and dancing. All so what? So you can look good because I live here? Is that part of it? You look bad because I don’t live with you?”

“The guys at the shop rag me about it, yeah. That I chose Finn over you.”

“You did. It happened. It’s over. Making me stay here five days a week like a prisoner won’t change the fact that you and Finn have similar interests and that this household will still revolve around him.”

“I don’t want you to feel like a prisoner. I want you to feel like this is your home.”

“With Finn’s needs calling the shots, that won’t happen. How about Finn comes home and focuses on his homework for three hours, and then we get to go out in the evenings?”

“The other guys aren’t free then because they’re doing their homework then.”

“We’re back to where we started. Finn’s schedule and your rules control the house. Not my schedule or my needs. I won’t feel at home here no matter how long you make me live here. I will always feel like I’m living by rules that I don’t need. Working at the shop, living with Dave, going to ballet, and playing a sport did not affect my grades. Giving up all of those things will not improve anything about my life. Nothing. Giving them up actually takes away what makes my life interesting and fun.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Well, you can either say that you don’t care that my life is going to be turned upside down and I’m going to have to stay here and give up what matters to me. Or you can say that you’ve changed your mind and I can still live with Dave, where I’m happy. If I have to live here, I’m not quitting the shop. I refuse to come here every afternoon and deal with the chaos of Finn. I’d rather work. I’ll come here when I get off and do my homework in the evenings, like Finn. And on the days I don’t work, I’ll stay at the library until dinnertime. At least Dave and I can be together at the library. From all I can gather, you want me to be like Finn. You want me to come home from school and invite people over to hang out and goof around. You want me to be more carefree and spontaneous. You want me to be a kid.”

“Yeah.”

“Dad, think about it. I wasn’t a kid when I WAS a kid. What do you really think the likelihood is that at 17 and a half that I’m going to magically change into a spontaneous and carefree person who likes to goof around? We’re back to you trying to make things better when all it feels like to me is you telling me that I’m not okay the way I am. I plan. I plan everything. And I do have people over and have fun. But I plan it each week. The last time there was something spontaneous, I locked myself in the spare room and listened to music through my earbuds and did schoolwork. Every bit of all of this feels like I’m not what you want in a son. I don’t want people over spontaneously fooling around. I don’t want bucket loads of free time. I want to move to New York. I want to go to college. You’ve known that for ages. We just keep going round and round. I’m not what you want a son to be. I can accept that. Can you? You say you love me just the way I am, but you want to change things for me about my life. I LIKE my life just the way it is right now. If you want to spend more time with me, then ask me. Me being here will not increase the chances of us doing something together. I know you. You come home from work. You eat. You sit in front of the TV and watch sports stuff. You read the paper sometimes. You read car-related stuff to stay up-to-date. You watch spy movies and action movies. I like British TV shows. I like History Channel stuff. I like old movies and old musicals. Me living here isn’t going to make you like that stuff anymore now than it did when I lived with you for 16 years. I just saw Roger pulled up. We need to go. You can think about it. If you want me to do the things we talked about let me know soon so I can get Puck to work my shifts next week and I can get busy on this stuff this weekend. I can get Dave and Azimio to help me paint the boards and have everything ready to go. Give me your pocket knife.” Kurt got down off the counters, took it from him, and went into one of the bedrooms. He opened the closet and used the knife and used it to pry a tiny section of the trim off. He stuck it in his pocket. He went back out to the living room and gave his dad the knife back.

“You two done?” Roger asked.

“Yeah, thanks for letting us stay. Kurt got all of the measurements we need,” Burt said.

They stepped outside and Roger locked the house up and left. Burt and Kurt got back in the truck.

“I want you to come home with me and talk to Carole. You two can go out for coffee at that place you both like, the Coffee Bean, or whatever it’s called.”

“The Lima Bean.”

“Yeah.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt had showed her the layout of the house he had sketched and the ideas for storage.

“Honey, that all looks very complicated. Are you sure you can do all that?”

“Yes. I’m sure. I did Quinn’s bookshelves and I did her closet, Judy’s closet and Mercedes’.”

“I’ll pick a paint color for the bedroom and the laundry room by tomorrow afternoon. I’ll text you a photo of the card with the number on it so you know what to get when you go with your dad.”

“Okay. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“How important is it to you to go camping in Tennessee? Have you ever even been camping?”

“Not really. Burt said how much you like it and Finn has always thought it would be fun to camp. He had a good time at both of the football campouts.”

“I already paid for a plane ticket to New York. I bought it a while back on a special ‘no changes, no refunds’ fare deal. Paul, Judy, Dave, and I were planning to go. Dave and I were going to look at schools again and make some final decisions on where to apply. We had some museums on our to-do list. And then Dad demanded that I go to Tennessee with the three of you. That leaves me losing out on the money for the ticket. Finn and I have reached a neutral point. I don’t think making us share a tent for a week on a campout is going to help that. If Dad wants to take Finn camping, then he should just take him camping. They could drive to Tennessee and stay for three or four days and come back. Or you could go too and stay one night camping and spend the other two in a hotel, if you can still find one with spring break being such a busy time.”

“I didn’t know about New York.”

“That’s because no one asks. I want to know why if I move into the new house with you three why I can’t spend the afternoon at Dave’s house. Surely Finn is old enough to understand that I’ve been living there for a year and I haven’t gotten in any trouble doing it. Just because he might knock up a girl at her house when her parents aren’t home has nothing to do with me dancing in the studio that Paul let me design. It has nothing to do with me playing the piano, which I will not be able to play if I bring it to the new house like Dad wants. Finn and his friends will be in the family room playing video games and they will not want me in there practicing the piano.”

“There just isn’t a solution that’s going to make you happy is there?” She sounded perturbed. “Burt has worked and worked to come up with a way to make you happy and bring you home to live with him and nothing satisfies you.”

“Woah. Where is that attitude coming from? I haven’t done anything to you. I just offered to do probably $1000 worth of work for you at no cost. What would make me happy would be to let me live my life the way I did before you moved in and brought your rules for Finn with you. Now, you’ve added that no one can go out in the evening and no one can come over except on Friday and Saturday evenings.”

“He’s offering to pay for the things you’ve been paying for yourself. It’s like you’re being completely ungrateful.”

“You can let me know the paint colors by tomorrow when I get off at 8:00. I’m already hours behind on my homework. I need to go.” He picked up his coffee cup and left.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Friday evening, Kurt went with Burt to Lowe’s and bought everything that was on his shopping list. Kurt loaded the cut lumber and the white paint into his Navigator and Burt took the shelving for the closets and laundry room home with him.

Kurt and Dave asked Azimio to help them with the painting. Over the course of the weekend, they got all of the boards painted.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After Glee on Monday, Kurt canceled their date with the others and went to Lowe’s and had wood cut for a headboard that would run the length of the bed since he was going to put his bed against the wall lengthwise to preserve what little floor space the room had. He also bought a solid wood table at Goodwill and took it home. He picked up Burt’s old desk and chair from the living room. He cancelled eating dinner with Burt and stayed home and Dave helped him create what he wanted out of the table. He also helped him build the long headboard.

Tuesday evening while Kurt was at work, Dave sanded the old desk and chair and painted them and the long headboard with the same white paint they had painted the shelving. Wednesday evening, Dave put a second coat of paint on them.

Thursday evening, the two of them stained the table pieces using the leftover stain from staining the futon and side shelves.

Friday Kurt picked up all of the closet shelving and painting supplies from Burt’s garage and was at the new house when Burt arrived with a key for him. Dave, Kurt, and Azimio unloaded all shelving supplies and put them in the middle of the living room floor. They all got busy taping up the three rooms they were going to paint. Azimio started on painting the insides of all three closets white. Kurt and Dave started on the master bedroom.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Saturday morning, they arrived at school in plenty of time to help load their costumes and the band equipment they had to take with them onto the bus. They headed towards Westerville to the same auditorium that they had gone to for Sectionals.

After intermission, Aural Intensity performed first, singing songs that obviously pandered to the ultra-conservative judge and the nun who was one of the judges, plus Kurt saw Coach Sylvester pointing to the stage with her bragging face on when the crowd jumped to its feet cheering at the end of their last song.

Kurt shook his head. When would enough be enough with her? He refocused. The Warblers were up next. They sang “Misery” and “Raise Your Glass” and they were much better than Aural Intensity. They had the crowd on their feet clapping and dancing along.

The New Directions took the stage last. Kurt and Quinn and Mike and Brittany stretched on opposite sides of the stage. Everyone else took their places around the stage with their backs to the audience with Rachel standing at the front with a microphone stand. The curtain went up, the spotlight highlighted Rachel. The pairs took their places along the edge of the stage. Paler spotlights highlighted them as they danced around the others while Rachel sang. As the second verse started the girls turned forward and began to sing with Rachel. As the second chorus started, Kurt and the other tenors joined in. By the bridge the whole group was singing and they finished the last chorus loud and strong.

The crowd began to applaud and cheer. The stage went dark and they reset for “Loser Like Me”. Their weeks of work paid off and their choreography was tight and in synch. They froze in their final positions and waited for the cheering to die down before they left the stage. This time Kurt took Dave’s hand when they exited the stage and didn’t let go. He pulled them to stand as far away from the Warblers as he could.

The top three groups gathered on stage. The Warblers came in second and the New Directions were going to Nationals in New York. Kurt threw his arms around Dave’s neck. Dave wrapped his arms around him and hugged him. Kurt found Rachel and hugged her. She was surprised, but she hugged him back. Next he found Quinn and hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. They all changed quickly and headed back out to the bus.

“New York! New York! New York!” was the chant on the bus as everyone filed on.

Kurt stopped and slipped into the seat where Rachel had sat down. “You were perfect. Absolutely perfect! Your song was fantastic and you were brilliant.”

She smiled. “Thank you. You four dancing looked really elegant and gave the audience something to watch while they listened. The choreography looked great and you all did a wonderful job.”

“Thank you.” He leaned in. “Be sure to tell the other three that. Don’t be stingy with telling others when they do a good job. It makes you a much better team player.” He winked at her.

She smiled again. “You don’t hate me?”

“I never hated you, Rachel. I hated your attitude.”

She nodded. He got up and went back to sit with Dave. He saw her get up and talk to Brittany, Mike, and Quinn.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After Regionals, they changed and went back to the new house. Azimio painted one wall of Kurt’s and Finn’s rooms white while Dave and Kurt worked on the opposite room since three of them in one area didn’t work. Azimio moved on from that to painting the laundry room. Kurt and Dave went back to put a second coat on the master bedroom since it had been painted a dark color and Carole had chosen a pale peach color for the walls.

Sunday morning, Kurt and Dave went back early and took all of the wood for the bookshelves with them. They worked together and put the closet shelving up, which took until 4:30 when they quit. They left the clean up to do another day.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday, Kurt bailed on eating with Burt, Carole, and Finn again. He went to the new house directly after Glee and removed all of the painter’s tape and moved the boards for each room where they belonged. He attached the wall mount braces for the pantry shelving into the studs. He didn’t hang any of the shelving except the one shelf that was for air drying clothing, but he moved it into the room. He cleaned everything up, and then went home and did his schoolwork.

Tuesday, Dave and Azimio went with him after school and the three of them got two of the bookshelves put together and installed. Wednesday, they went back and assembled and installed the one in the master bedroom.

Thursday after Glee, Dave and Kurt loaded the desk, the table, the chair, the headboard and the new pillows Kurt had bought into Dave’s truck and went to the house to wait for Kurt’s new bed and bed frame. He had washed the bed linens and had everything ready. They mounted the long headboard to the wall the way Kurt had seen in photos of European hotels. He put the desk on the wall the door opened back onto. They put the table together for the first time in its new form and placed it over the top of the desk with the round drop leaf down. He pushed the chair up to the table.

Once the bed was delivered, they popped the frame up and locked it into position, put it where it needed to be, put the bed skirt on the frame, and then put the mattress on top. Kurt put the dust mite protector on the mattress, zipped it up, and put the mattress pad, sheets, and comforter on. He had gotten three patterned pillow shams with the color of the comforter in them. Dave put them on the pillows while Kurt made the bed. Kurt propped them up against the wooden back and stepped back and nodded.

Once they had finished, Kurt drove to Michael’s and bought two prints, and two white frames. He went to WalMart and bought an oversized wall mirror and white blinds. They went back to the house and Dave helped him hang the poster-sized print horizontally over the bed and the half-poster sized print horizontally over the table. They hung the mirror centered on the blank wall next to the closet. Burt, Carole, and Finn showed up right after Kurt had gotten the blinds shortened to fit the window.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt showed them around. He started with the laundry room. “Once you get the appliances and Dad’s desk in here, you can put the shelving up.” He showed her how it fastened to the brackets. “The shelving for these sections is up against this short wall. The shelving for dad’s stuff is solid rather than wire. It’s leaning against the wall where the other brackets are down by the window.

“This is really nice,” she said. “Well have a lot of room to store stuff. I’ll be able to get more stuff at Sam’s instead of the grocery.”

He took them to the two smaller bedrooms next.

Finn said, “Oh, wow. Those are nice shelves. I’ll have a lot easier time in here than I thought since it’s so small compared to the basement. I expected like plain shelves or something. Those look like something out of a magazine.”

Kurt smiled at the compliment. “I redid the closet as well.” He opened it. “You have twice the hanging space and room for your shoes and laundry basket on the floor. There’s still room to fold up your blanket and put the extra comforter for the pullout bed up on the top shelf, which you can easily reach.”

“Cool, dude.”

Kurt walked into his room. “I’ve finished my room since I won’t be here when you’re moving the rest of the stuff in. My bed was delivered this afternoon. My only request is that you put my dresser in the closet.” He opened it. “It fits right in this space. Just slide it in and close the door, please.”

“That’s an interesting table,” Carole said.

“Well, this room is small and I need more space than the top of Dad’s old desk provided, so we disassembled an old double drop leaf table, sanded and restained it, and put it back together with just one of the drop sections. Dad’s old desk is under there so I can use the drawers, but this will give me the space to spread out what I’m working on, but once I’m done, I can fold it down and have the extra floor space.”

“Inventive.”

“Thank you. The last room is your room.” Kurt walked out of his room and across the living room. He let Carole walk in first.

“Wow. The shelving makes the room look a lot more sophisticated and the wall color is perfect. It looks so much bigger and more cheerful.” She opened the walk in closet. “Oh, my. It looks like one of the closets on one of those home makeovers on TV. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you like it.” He pointed things out as he spoke. “There are sections for your shirts, skirts, pants, and dresses. And a section for Dad’s shirts and pants. Shelving for purses and shoe racks under the hanging sections. Hooks for Dad’s belts. And room up on top to store blankets, and seasonal stuff.”

Carole said, “I’m having painters come in tomorrow and do the living room, kitchen, and dining room so they can dry while we’re gone.”

“It will look brand new then,” Kurt said.

Burt said, “It’s amazing what the new paint and upgraded closets and the bookshelves do for the place. It looks like a much more expensive house than it did before.”

“Details make a lot of difference. We need to get going. I still have to pack. I’ve spent every minute I wasn’t doing schoolwork here or working on stuff for the house for the last two weeks. I’m glad you like everything. We’ll see you after we get back. Enjoy your spring break.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt got in the driver’s seat and started to sing. “Start spreading the news. I’m leaving today.”

Dave took the next line. “I want to be a part of it New York, New York.”

“Well, we’re leaving Saturday morning. Close enough. I’m SOOO excited.”

“I couldn’t tell at all from that huge grin on your face.”

“Hush, you. I think Tennessee is beautiful and maybe sometime we can go together, but I’m so excited that we get to go to New York!”


	27. Chapter 27

They pulled into the garage and went into the house. When Kurt stepped into the studio, he handed Dave his coat and bag, and then he dialed the silliness way up. He positioned himself in a chorus line position with his arms out at shoulder height and began doing a grapevine across the space going back and forth putting kicks in as well as tipping his imaginary top hat. He picked up where he had left off in the truck.

_These vagabond shoes are longing to stray_  
_Right through the very heart of it_  
_New York, New York_

_I want to wake up in the city that doesn’t sleep_  
_And find I’m king of the hill, top of the heap_

_These little town blues are melting away_  
_I’ll make a brand new start of it_  
_In old New York_

_If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere._  
_It’s up to you,_  
_New York, New York._

Dave clapped for him when he finished. Kurt took a deep bow, and then practically ran at Dave, who knew just what was coming. He quickly put Kurt’s jacket and bag on the sofa, so he was ready and caught Kurt when he jumped up and wrapped his legs around his waist. Kurt slid down and kissed Dave. He leaned over and grabbed his coat and bag and went out in the foyer to hang the jacket up.

Dave followed him out and hung his jacket up as well. He turned to Kurt who still had a huge smile on his face. “You’re crazy.”

“I know, but you love me.”

“I do.”

“Come on. Let’s go pack.” Kurt took off running up the stairs.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next day after school, Kurt headed to the shop. He changed into work clothes and headed into the bay area. Cassius was on a car when Kurt came out humming and started looking under the hood.

“Ooh. Broken timing belt. What a mess.”

“That’s my mess unfortunately since you’re going to be gone all week. Wait, why are you here? You were scheduled off for today. Burt said you all were going to Tennessee.” He turned and pointed to the car that was up on the lift next to the one Kurt had been looking at. “You can work on this since you’re obviously not off.”

“Okay.” Kurt moved and started to look. “Brake pads and rotors, front and back?”

“You got it.”

“I’m so excited. We’re going back to New York.”

“What’s with New York? What happened to Tennessee?”

Kurt grabbed the tools he needed and got busy. “New York is where Paul, Judy, Dave, and I are going. We had already bought plane tickets and everything before Dad said anything about Tennessee, which I wasn’t interested in.”

“You loved Tennessee.” Cassius started to work on the engine with the broken timing belt.

“I did, but not with Finn.”

“What is it with the two of you?”

“He’s an overgrown second grader who needs rules that are ridiculous. He has to be told to behave his age, which he still balks at.”

“Burt said he was doing a lot better.”

“Better than leaving soaking wet towels on the floor of a bathroom in a basement when he didn’t bother to turn the vent on while he showered?”

“Oh.”

“It doesn’t take much improvement to do better when you previously did nothing.”

“Wow. He was excited about the new house, talking about how it had room for everyone.”

“Yeah, I know he is. The new house is ready to move into. Dave, Azimio, and I painted half of the rooms. Dave and I redid the closets with that new white wire closet stuff. We built shelves to fill a wall in each bedroom and Azimio helped us install them. It’s a lot easier with three people. Carole had a crew in today to paint the other three rooms. It should look really nice now. They’ll be moving the stuff from the old house on Thursday I think.”

“You don’t sound excited.”

“Why would I be excited?”

“You and Burt will be together. You’ll be a family with everyone together now.”

“Are you the one that’s been hassling Dad about choosing Finn over me?”

“Well, not JUST me, but yeah. You’re a great kid. Burt shouldn’t have chosen them over you.”

“Can you stop, please? That just made everything worse. Now, I have to move in with them.”

“Worse? Worse than having to move out of your own home?”

“My home is with Dave now. Now, I’m being forced out of my home for the second time in a 12-month period. I’m happy where I am. Have you seen any evidence that I haven’t been happy the last year? I mean, sure, I’ve had some ups and downs, but doesn’t every teenager? And most of the downs have been because of this struggle over living together. Why would that be better now than it was a year ago? Other than the fact that we both basically have a room half the size of the basement to ourselves now?”

“I guess I don’t understand this at all.”

“You’re not the only one. Dad doesn’t get it at all. I’m tired of trying to explain it to be honest.” Kurt quit talking and went back to getting the brakes pads off all four wheels.

They worked in silence for about an hour. Kurt was working on the rotors when Cassius broke the silence.

“Explain this to me, please. Why is moving back in with your dad a bad thing?”

“It’s living with Finn and the rules made up for Finn that’s the problem. Living with my dad isn’t a problem. They expect us to both live under the same set of rules. We’re the same age basically, so they consider it fair.”

“Makes sense to me.”

“You’re forgetting what I said about Finn being an overgrown second grader. His ‘getting better’ puts him up a few years now to overgrown sixth grader. He knows how to do everything, but he does his best to do nothing. He has started doing chores. But he still acts like a child. They pay for everything for him and by moving home, my dad says he’ll pay for everything for me.”

“Well, that seems reasonable.”

“I guess it depends on your definition. Would you want to live with rules made up for a sixth grader? Would being you be willing to give up your freedom so that your parents will pay your car insurance and for your phone and to eat for free?”

“Define ‘give up my freedom’. I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”

“Well, I can’t have Dave over unless Dad or Carole are home. I can’t have anyone over or go anywhere after dinner. I’m allowed to sleep away from the house only on Fridays and Saturdays. I have to go home from school and not go anywhere else, most especially not to Dave’s house. And he wants me to stop working since Finn doesn’t work. Finn has friends over most every day after school and they play video games and horse around. Oh, and don’t forget that Finn’s friends are mostly guys who bullied me all freshman year and mostly only quit because Azimio threatened to make sure their mothers found out if they kept bullying people. But Azimio won’t be at the house to witness what they say or do. Even if it’s nothing, I won’t feel comfortable in a house full of jocks.”

“So, you’re going to what?”

“Shut myself in my room and lock the door. Mostly I’ll put headphones on and do my schoolwork. Once I finish, I’ll Skype with Dave unless I somehow get banned from doing that too. I’ll prep dinner on my scheduled days and then eat with everyone, as required. After that, I’ll go to my room to do school work. If I have extra time left over, I’ll read and/or listen to music until I shower and go to sleep. I’ll do that Sunday through Thursday. Friday after dinner, I’ll be allowed to leave. I’ll head straight to Dave’s and I guess I’ll get to stay as long as Paul is home. If he leaves, I guess I’ll have to go back home. I’m not sure what time I’ll be required to return on Sundays. Dad didn’t say.”

“I see.”

“I might get to play the piano in the evenings if it doesn’t disturb anyone. There’s no door between the family room and the kitchen. Maybe Dave and I can build one the first weekend I’m allowed to go to his house. They make these barn door hangers. I’m not sure how to describe them. You could probably help me make one. I’ll show you once my hands aren’t a mess. I could install one of those and one of the slider barn doors. That would cut down on the noise coming out of the family room.”

“I’ve seen them. I don’t know that I could make the pieces as quickly as you want to do this. It would probably be better to just get a professionally made one since you could get it up sooner. I’ll help you put it up though, if you want me to.”

“I’ll have to text Dad and show him and Carole. If they approve, I’ll put one up as soon as I get back.” He cleaned his hands off and sent Burt a text, and then went back to work.

“Why can’t you go to Dave’s after school or in the evenings?”

“After school is because Paul isn’t home and Finn wouldn’t be allowed to spend the afternoon at a girlfriend’s house unsupervised. In the evening is because Finn isn’t allowed to go anywhere in the evenings because he hasn’t been doing his homework, so now he has to stay home Sunday through Thursday evenings to get it done. So, I guess I answered your question from earlier. I supposed I’ll have to come home for dinner on Sunday and stay home the rest of the evening.”

Cassius started to say something and then stopped. He went back to what he was doing. They went back to working in silence.

“He told me that I’m not going to be working anymore, but I’m not quitting. Unless he out and out fires me, I’m not quitting. And if he fires me, I’ll go get a job at another shop. I’m not losing out on my ability to get my adult certifications when I turn 18 this summer because I’ve not been working under a licensed mechanic for two full years. I will need to change my hours though. He’s insisting that I take two nights a week dinner cooking duty. And dinner is at 6:15. So, I’ll have to be off by 5:00 those two days. I can work until 6:00 the other three days. And if we can, we need to get Puck off on Saturdays so he can spend more time with his sister. I’ll fiddle with the schedule after I talk to Puck.”

They went back to work in silence. Kurt’s phone pinged with a text. He went to look at it without touching it.

“Well, that’s a no go on the barn door. Carole says the only source of light in the kitchen is the light coming in through that doorway because the patio door that used to be there is now in the family room.”

“Alright. Listen. Why don’t you text Dave and tell him you pick him up when you get off. You can show me around the new house. I saw it before you did anything to it. Burt hired me to change all of the doorknobs and locks on the door while they’re gone. I’m supposed to leave the new keys in his office here so he can grab them on their way home. You can show me where this barn door would go and I’ll see what I can think of.”

“Did he get a keyed lock for my bedroom door?”

“Not that I know of.”

“I’ll text Dave and we can do what you said, but I need to go to Lowe’s before it closes so I can put a keyed doorknob on my door. I’m not moving in without one. I’m not having Finn or his friends having access to my room when I’m not there. Dad can just return the extra doorknob when he gets home. Or maybe the receipt is with them and I can use it to exchange one of the doorknob kits.”

“You know what? I’m going to help you finish this brake job. And we’re going to leave early. I’ll come in tomorrow and make up my hours and you’ll just be an hour short I guess. Sorry about that, but clean your hands and tell Dave you’re going to pick him up a little after 7:00.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Cassius opened the front door and they stepped inside.

“Oh, wow. It looks a lot different with the pale yellow paint in here,” Kurt said.

“I like it,” Dave said. “It looks a lot more cheerful than it did before.”

Kurt took Cassius to the two bedrooms.

“So, you two and Azimio painted these two rooms? And built those shelves?”

“Yeah.” Kurt opened Finn’s closet. “Dave and I redid the closets too.”

“That rocks. I should do that at home.” He headed into Kurt’s room. “I see that you’ve already been working on your room.”

“It’s done except that the dresser is still in the old house. But I think I’ll go get it tonight and move it in there so that I can lock the door before I leave and no one will need to go in there.”

“There’s nothing on the shelves.”

“I’ll move my schoolbooks over. I might make a curtain. Let’s go show you the master bedroom.”

Cassius stepped in. “This looks a lot different because this room was really dark.” He opened the closet. “Nice. Really nice. The built-in bookshelves really make the place look a lot fancier.” He left and opened the laundry room door. “Nice job in there too.”

“I found the doorknobs,” Kurt said, looking through some bags on the kitchen counter. “The receipt is in the bag.” He took it out and put it in his wallet. He grabbed one of the regular doorknobs as well. “I like the nickel doorknobs. That will really make the place look a lot more modern than the brass doorknobs.”

Dave and Cassius stood on the family room side of the opening looking at it.

Cassius said, “I see her point about the lighting. I’ll have to think about it and see if I can come up with anything. Honestly though, when she’s here when it’s light outside, she could just leave the barn doors pushed back.”

“I don’t have a key. Did you get all matching sets for the two doors with deadbolts?”

“Yes.”

“Alright. I’d like one of the keys from the set to take with me to Lowe’s. Maybe you can just change the front lock before you leave so I can get in when I get back with the new keyed doorknob for my bedroom.”

“I’ll just get started on the front and keep going until you’re done with yours. Go on to Lowe’s. I’ll be here.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt unlocked the door and opened it. Dave and Kurt carried in the dresser skeleton and put it in Kurt’s closet. Kurt brought the bag in and grabbed some tools. Dave brought the rest of the drawers in while Kurt got started on changing the doorknob.

About 10 minutes later, Kurt put all of the parts from the original doorknob on the kitchen counter. “I don’t know what Dad wants done with the old ones. I’d suggest buying a box of quart ziptop bags and putting each one in a separate bag. That way he can either sell them or donate them. They still work, so there’s no reason to throw them out.”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll bag them up.”

“Here’s the key you gave me. I had a copy made.”

“What about the spare to your room?”

“I’m keeping that for now. I don’t want it lying around here somewhere where Finn could get a hold of it and copy it, even though I doubt he would think to do something like that. I’m not taking any chances. Unless you need help with something else, we’re going to head out. We’re flying out really early in the morning.”

“Nah, I’m good. Have fun in New York.”

“We will.” Kurt pulled the door shut behind them as they left.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next morning, they were in Columbus by the time the sun came up. By 10:00, they were heading out of La Guardia airport and out the bus to connect them to the train. About an hour and a half later, they arrived at the apartment they were staying in for the week. Paul had found a good deal on Air BnB for a 2-bedroom place.

They carried their luggage to their rooms and unpacked. Kurt and Dave had volunteered to go to the grocery. They decided to walk and take an Uber back after they bought everything. They walked hand in hand.

“This week is going to so fun,” Kurt said. “The hour train ride into Manhattan isn’t too bad. We’re not old enough to go to any clubs that we’d want to stay there late for anyway. We can just go to bed early and leave here in time to get to places when they open.”

They continued to talk about their plans on the way. When they got to the store, they bought everything on the list and called for Uber when they got in line. They didn’t have to wait long for it to arrive. They packed the bags in the trunk and were back to the apartment quickly. They texted Paul. He and Judy came down and they managed to get everything up in one trip.

After they got everything put away, they made lunch and ate together.

“Anything on today’s agenda,” Judy asked.

“Not really. I think we’ll go back out and catch the bus and go somewhere and look around for a while. We’ll look the town up on Trip Advisor and find some place to go. We’re definitely going to the American Museum of Natural History on Monday though. And we’ve got all of the weekdays planned out – different colleges to visit again and some other museums.”

“Sounds fun,” she said.

Dave asked, “What about you two?”

“Oh, we’re going to hang around here quite a bit and we’ll go into the city some during the week too. We’re just wanting to relax mostly. That’s why we wanted to get this place rather than staying in a motel in the City again.”

Dave nodded. “If we see any cool places, we’ll let you know.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They spent the afternoon hiking around a park they found. They played a round of mini-golf before they headed back to the apartment.   When they got there, no one answered the door. Dave texted Paul.

\--We’re knocking.

\--We’re just down the street. Give us 5-10 minutes.

\--Sure.

They came walking back up finishing off ice cream cones.

“Isn’t it a little chilly for ice cream?” Kurt asked.

“I like ice cream all year round,” Judy teased. “This was really good.”

Paul opened the door.

“We found a nice park. You guys could go there and walk around and play mini-golf like we did.” Kurt texted Paul the name of the park.

“We might go have a look one day. We heard that they have a really nice mall here too,” Judy said. “I asked a few people what there is fun to do around here. Someone also mentioned the theater has great shows.”

“We’ll have to look it up.”

“Why don’t you two pick a movie? Paul and I will make dinner.”

“We can help,” Kurt offered.

“It’s fine. It’s your vacation too. You can cook another night.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Their week went by quickly. They visited two colleges each and spent most of the day and met up later in the afternoon and spent time exploring. Thursday at lunch Kurt got a text from Puck.

\--Your dad wants me to take him to the Karofsky’s at lunch so he can have a moving company take the piano. He really didn’t like it that I’m texting you.

\--The piano isn’t technically mine. If he’s telling you to let him take it, then just do what he says. I’m sorry you ended up in the middle.

\--Fine. I’ll run home at lunch. I’m sorry that he’s taking it.

\--Maybe we can find a keyboard to put in the studio. Even though I like real pianos better, I can’t possibly justify the cost of buying one right now.

\--Yeah. I get it. See you Sunday night.

A couple of hours later, he got a text from Burt.

\--Why is there a keyed doorknob on your bedroom door and where is the key to it?

\--I told you that I would not agree to letting Finn have access to my stuff. I put the keyed doorknob on myself last Friday night when Cassius was working on the other doorknobs. I have the key. Why do you need in there? I moved the dresser Friday night as well.

\--I guess I don’t need in there, but I don’t like the keyed lock.

\--Too bad.

\--Don’t smart mouth me.

\--Don’t patronize me. The keyed doorknob stays or I won’t live in that room. I won’t have Finn touching my stuff again or any of his friends. End of discussion. If you’ve found something that you think is mine while you’re moving stuff, just put it in a box on the floor in front of my door. I’ll take care of it when I’m there.

Kurt didn’t say anything to Dave when he met up with him that afternoon. They talked about the schools they had visited and they each added to the pros and cons list they had been working on.

Friday they went back into the City for the day with Paul and Judy to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Saturday morning they checked out of the apartment and headed to a hotel in the City for the last night of their stay. They checked their luggage into security since it was too early to check into their room. They all headed to the Central Park Zoo. Afterwards, Dave and Kurt hung around to walk through the park leisurely and Judy and Paul went a different direction to do the same thing.

“I’m not ready to go back tomorrow,” Kurt said. “I don’t know if I can hold out for five months.”

“The school library opens 30 minutes before classes start. We can meet there and at least see each other.”

“I’m sorry.” Kurt wiped his eyes. “I don’t want to ruin our last day here.” Kurt took his hand and started to walk. “I texted Cassius and Puck. I couldn’t get Puck off on Saturdays with my new restrictions. I feel bad. I had hoped to have him off after football.”

“He needs the money. He said as long as he leaves and get to Columbus by lunch it’s okay. His nana lets Sarah watch DVDs on Saturday mornings and not during the week so she has something to look forward to instead of asking when Noah’s going to get there.”

“She’s such a sweetie.” Kurt started to cry again. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. It’s just I had it all planned that we’d go back and take Lexi, Stevie, Stacey, Brittany, Santana, and Sam – and we’d all have a lot of fun. And now I can’t go. You all could still go though.” Kurt wiped his eyes again. “Let’s find something fun to do. We could go back in the zoo and watch some of the animals again. It would be better than wallowing out here.”

“Okay.” Dave turned back towards the zoo and they showed their ticket stubs and went back inside.

After they walked around for another hour or so, they headed out again.

“I am going to be totally cheesy and buy a hoodie from one of the street vendors.”

Dave laughed. “Alright, let’s go find one you like.”

A half-hour later, Kurt had two hoodies in his hand. “I can’t pick.”

“Um. That one.” Dave pointed and took the one he didn’t point to. Kurt turned to pay for the one in his hand. It was deep navy blue and it had NEW YORK spelled out underneath a muted rainbow skyline. Kurt paid for it and turned around to find Dave handing the guy the money for the other hoodie. Kurt shook his head. “What are you doing?”

“Buying you something you obviously like. Makes picking it out for you easy.”

“You didn’t need to do that.”

“I know, but you wanted both and I like them both. This one is cool too.” It was dark gray with a square placement of the letter “I” and a deep red heart with the skyline in black across the lower half of the heart. Underneath were the letters “N” and “Y”. “Now you’ll have five hoodies. The Bengals hoodie, the one from the aquarium, our football championship hoodie, and these two.”

“That’s a lot of hoodies.”

“You’re going to need them for college to put on over your dance clothes. I saw how they dress – dance pants with tanks. And afterwards, hoodies over the top.”

“You’re going to say anything that comes to mind to convince me that you’re not just spoiling me, aren’t you?”

“What I said was true.”

“And you’re spoiling me.”

“Just a little.”

“You’re a big sweetie. Thank you for the hoodie.”

“You’re welcome. We need to get back to the hotel to meet up for dinner.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“You got us tickets to see _The Lion King_?” Kurt was still in shock and was staring at the tickets in his hands. “Thank you! This is going to be amazing. I didn’t bring any dressy clothes.”

“Just wear what you have on,” Judy said. “You always look nice.”

“How did you get tickets?” Kurt asked.

“We went this morning when we took the cab instead taking the subway to the zoo,” Judy said. “I read up on how to get discount tickets online. And went and rushed the tickets when the box office opened this morning.”

“We’ll grab something for dinner near the theatre. Maybe just pizza, but let’s get going,” Paul said.

Three hours later when they came out of the theatre, Kurt was on cloud nine.

“That was amazing. I LOVED it.” He hugged Judy. “Thank you.” He wiped tears from his eyes. “Happy tears. I promise. It was perfect.”

She reached up and wiped the tears. “I’m glad you liked it so much, honey. I thought it was majestic and amazing. I’ve never seen anything like that. I can understand what would make you want to be part of something like that with how talented you are.”

Her words struck a sore spot and Kurt struggled to keep it together. He stepped towards Dave and buried his head in Dave’s neck. Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt and rubbed his hand up and down his back slowly and soothingly. He held up a finger, indicating for Paul and Judy to wait a minute. He took Kurt to the edge of the sidewalk away from the crowd as much as possible.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

“She’s being so nice and motherly. It feels good, but it’s hard to let her.”

Dave wiped the tears. “She loves you.”

Kurt nodded. “I’m trying. Let’s go back with them.”

Dave wrapped his arm around Kurt’s waist and they went back to where Paul and Judy were waiting. Paul stepped out and hailed a taxi for them to go back to the hotel.

Kurt perked back up on the ride back and started talking enthusiastically about the show again.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When they got back, Kurt showered first. When he got out Dave took his place and Paul went to get a drink.

Judy knocked on the open door that joined the two rooms. She sat down on the love seat and patted the spot next to her. “Will you sit with me for a minute?”

Kurt sat down next to her.

“I’m not sure how to start this conversation, but I just want you to know that if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m here for you. I don’t think you’re used to hearing it, but you are an amazing young man and I’m glad you’re part of this family. I’m glad you had such a good time tonight.”

“I really did. It was amazing. I was really happy and I’ve been known to cry when I’m happy. When you reached up and wiped away the tears, I just lost it. Dave’s been the only one to do that since my mom died. I don’t want to move out tomorrow. I want to stay with you and Dave and Paul and Puck and Quinn. I’m happy. Well, I was. Anyway, thank you for always being so kind to me. It really means a lot. I’m sorry I won’t get to see you much anymore unless you come over on Saturdays or Sundays during the day and stay with Paul at the house. I won’t be allowed over unless Paul is there and I know you two like to go out on the weekends. When you two leave, I’ll have to go back to my dad’s.”

“You’re serious?”

“Yes, unfortunately. Are you going to do the same thing if you and Paul get married soon? Are you going to not let me stay over since you wouldn’t let Quinn sleep over at her boyfriend’s – if she had one?”

“I hadn’t actually really thought about it.”

Kurt nodded.

“I would want to talk to everyone at the same time and get a consensus, I think. But if you and Dave have already turned 18 by that point, then there won’t be anything to discuss.”

Paul came back with a couple of drinks. He handed Kurt a bottle of water.

“Thank you.” Kurt took it from him.

Judy patted him on the shoulder, stood up, and went into the adjoining room, closing the door behind her.

Kurt got up and locked the door. He checked the door to the hallway to make sure it was locked.

Dave came out of the bathroom a few minutes later. He locked the bathroom door from the room side when he came out. He folded his clothes and put them in his suitcase and took out what he was wearing the next morning and laid it out on top.

Kurt walked up behind him and took his t-shirt off. “You won’t need this.” He took his own off and put it in his suitcase as well.

They got in bed and turned the light off.

“I don’t want to move out tomorrow. I’m sure you’ve already figured that out, but I wanted to say it out loud. I want to be with you. As soon as I am 18, I’m moving out – hopefully back in with you. I’m only taking the bare minimum of what I have to back with me.”

“I’m still going to pack our lunch, okay?”

“Thank you.”

“Come closer so I can hold you, please.”

Kurt scooted closer and sprawled out on Dave like he the sunny spot and Kurt was a cat. Kurt ran his fingers across Dave’s chest. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Fancy – so much.” Dave tipped Kurt’s chin up and kissed him sweetly.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sunday afternoon, they were back in Lima. Kurt washed all of the clothes from the trip and hung them up to dry. In between doing that he packed five outfits and put them in a garment back to take with him. He packed up the schoolbooks he had, and two novels – the one he was reading and he one he planned to read next.

He stopped at a Dollar Tree and bought a small plastic caddy for his bathroom products, 2 plastic wash tubs to store the caddy and other things on a shelf in his closet, and a pretty mug to put pencils in on his desk. He put them in his laundry basket on top of his schoolbooks so he could carry it all together.

He drove to the new house and parked in the driveway. He put his satchel on cross-body style, laid the garment bag over the laundry basket, walked up to the front door, and rang the doorbell.

When Burt opened the door, Kurt went inside and carried everything directly to his room. He found a small box on the floor in front of his door. He put the basket down, unlocked the door, picked the small box up and put it on his table. He grabbed the laundry basket and the garment bag and shut the door behind him.

He put the clothes in his closet. He emptied out the laundry basket by putting his schoolbooks and laptop on the shelf closest to his study table. He put his messenger bag on top of his dresser.

He took his body and hair care products out of the ziptop bag he had brought them in and put the ones he needed to use in the bathroom in the caddy. He put the caddy in a dish tub and the other products in the second tub and put them both on top of the shelf above his dresser.

The laundry basket was empty and he put it in the closet on the floor. He looked around the room and the only thing he noticed was that the door pulls on the closet were still brass. He made a note to take them off one evening and use his stainless metallic spray paint on them.

He opened the box that had been sitting in front of his door. Inside were his baby book and two framed photos of him with his mom. He put the photos on the shelf. He laid the baby book down flat in between them. The rest of the box was drawings he had done when he was younger. He added a letter size plastic storage box to his list of things to get. He put the papers in one of his empty dresser drawers. He flattened the box, made sure he had his keys, and took the box out to the garage to look for where to put recyclables. He found a stack of flattened boxes and put the one in his hand on top of the stack.

When he walked back into the house, Burt was in the kitchen.

“Did you get everything in already?”

“Yes.”

“Good, good. I switched the dinners around like you asked. You’ll cook on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.”

“Thank you. Am I being provided with a menu of what to make or am I supposed to choose?”

“I’m pretty sure that Carole has made up a menu. I’ll have her post it somewhere.”

“Okay. So, I won’t need to go shopping, right?”

“Nope.”

“Alright. Is there anything else? Where is the chore chart posted?”

“Nowhere yet. We’ll get that up soon.”

“Thanks.” Kurt walked away and back to his room.

Burt followed him to his room. “It’s awfully barren in here.”

“All I’ll be doing is studying in here. There’s little reason to have anything but my schoolbooks and my laptop.”

“You can have your friends over.”

“When?”

“After school. On the weekends.”

“I’m working after school. And on the weekends, I’m going to Dave’s when dinner ends on Friday nights and I’ll be back for dinner on Sunday.”

“That won’t be happening. You can go over there Saturday morning after you get up and you’ll be home at 11:00 provided that Paul is there that whole time. You can go back Sunday morning and stay until dinner, as long as Paul is there.”

“You said I could sleep away from the house two nights a week – on Friday and Saturday night.”

“That didn’t mean that you could sleep over at Dave’s. Finn wouldn’t be allowed to go sleep over at a girlfriends’ house.”

“Please leave my room.” Kurt took a step towards the door. “Now, please.”

Burt didn’t move.

“Once school is out will I be able to go to Dave’s in the evenings?”

“Not every evening, but a few.”

“How many is a few and why not every evening? Will Finn be limited to only being able to go out a few evenings a week?”

“You can go out with your other friends the other evenings.”

“I won’t have any other friends by then. Just get out, please.”

“What is going on with you?”

Kurt didn’t answer.

“You’re grounded for that attitude. You can stay home all next weekend.”

Kurt said nothing for fear that he would get grounded for even longer. He turned and slipped his shoes off and lay down on his bed facing the wall.

Burt finally walked toward the door. “This door stays open when you’re home.”

Kurt cried himself to sleep.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

An hour later, Carole knocked on the open door. “Dinner’s ready.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Come sit with everyone.”

He got up and went in the kitchen and sat down. He passed the dishes and took no food. He drank the water that was at his place.

“You need to eat, Kurt,” Burt said.

“I’m not hungry.”

Finn said, “If he’s not going to eat his pork chop, can I have it?”

“Go ahead, Finn. It’s all yours,” Kurt said. He picked up the plate and passed it to Finn. As soon as everyone finished eating, he got up and began to clear the table. He washed the pots and pans. Once everything was either in the dishwasher or washed, he went back to his room.

Burt said, “Bring your laptop out here and uninstall Skype.”

Kurt did as he was told.

“Don’t reinstall it or you’ll have to hand write your schoolwork. No chatting with people while doing schoolwork. Your phone has to be off too. No texting or Skype or any other chat programs on there in the evenings when you’re doing your schoolwork either.”

Kurt took his laptop back to his room. He came back out and knocked on Finn’s open door.

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to take a shower in ten minutes. If you need the bathroom, go now or wait until I get out.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll be taking a shower at 10 every night. I’m just very tired tonight and I’m going to bed early.”

“Yeah. Fine. You’ll shower at 10. I shower in the morning, so no big deal.”

Kurt showered and went back into his room. He closed and locked the door. Burt knocked a few minutes later.

“Just a minute. I’m changing.” He opened the door once he had his pajamas on. “Yes?”

“You can sleep with the door closed, but not locked.”

Kurt nodded and closed the door. He plugged his phone into charge it and started a play list. He put the phone on the shelf closest to where his pillow was. He lay down and tried to go to sleep.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday morning, Kurt showed up in time to sit down in his seat for first period right before the warning bell rang. Right before the tardy bell rang, Dave slipped into his seat.

“I waited for you in the library like we planned.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t come to school early. We’ll talk at lunch.” Kurt put all of his effort into focusing on what was being taught. He left as soon as the bell rang and scurried off to his second period class.

At lunchtime, he and Dave went outside for lunch and sat in the bleachers where no one could see them.

“Straddle the bench.” Kurt straddled it as well and scooted back into Dave’s chest and took his arms and wrapped them around him.

Dave caught on and held Kurt close.

Kurt told Dave everything.

“So, you can’t spend the night anymore at all?”

Kurt shook his head. And I can’t come at all this weekend because I’m grounded. I can’t come to school early either. I tried that this morning and got the ‘you’re grounded’ response. I’m guessing they caught Finn horsing around on Skype and texting people when he was supposed to be doing his schoolwork. I’d guess that’s why there’s an open door and no outside communication rule.”

“Can you at least Skype me or text me after you finish your work?”

“Yes, but I have to have my door open unless I’m sleeping.”

“Maybe you can go outside in your backyard and Skype me.”

“Maybe. I don’t want to lose my phone though. I won’t be at Glee this afternoon. I reworked the schedule. Unless Glee moves to before school rehearsals, I’ll be dropping out.”

“I won’t stay if you leave. I only joined so I could be with you.”

“Well, you go today and see if anyone else will agree to before school rehearsals.”

“Okay. For lunch, we’re going to eat by ourselves, out here I guess. I want to be able to at least kiss you and hold you.”

Kurt turned and wrapped his legs around Dave’s waist and pull himself flush to Dave’s chest and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck and pressed in to deepen the kiss. When they broke for air, Kurt said, “I love you. Please don’t give up on me.” He buried his face in Dave’s neck.

“I’m not giving up on you or us. Somehow, we’ll make it through.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt went straight to the shop after school every afternoon that week. He went home afterwards, did his chores, cooked when it was his turn, and sat in his room with his door open while he did his schoolwork each night. Saturday morning, he got up and got ready for ballet and was met at the table.

“Where are you going?” Burt asked.

“Ballet.”

“You’re grounded, remember?”

“I didn’t realize that I was grounded from going to ballet. You let me go to Glee Monday, Wednesday, and yesterday before school. I assumed that lessons and clubs weren’t part of my being grounded. I’ll have to call Quinn and tell her I won’t be there. It’s not right to just not show up to pick her up. She’ll need to drive herself.”

“Well, get on with it. Call her and tell her you’re not coming.”

“I’ll do it in my room. You can have what I made for breakfast.” He scooted the scrambled eggs and toast he hadn’t touched yet across the table. He went back to his room and texted Quinn and apologized. He took his shoes and jacket off and lay back down in his bed facing the wall. He only stayed there for a few minutes before he decided to get up and do his laundry while Finn was still asleep. He went back into his room and waited for his timer to go off. He went back to hang up some of his clothes. Burt was back in the kitchen.

“Am I allowed to go outside? What are the rules about doors on the weekends? Am I allowed to close mine?”

“You’re to stay inside because you’re grounded. The door stays open.”

“Even if my schoolwork is done? Can I open my window at least?”

“I suppose you can open the window. Schoolwork or not, the door stays open.”

Kurt moved some of his laundry to the dryer. He grabbed the drying rack and took it to his room and put the other clothes on it. He raised the blinds, open the window, and pushed the clothes rack so that the breeze would blow in on the clothes. When his other clothes were dry, he went to get them from the dryer and took them in his room to put away. He also washed on of their camping jugs, filled it with water, grabbed a glass, and took them to his room.

He kept feeling like something was off in his room, but he couldn’t figure out what, but he hated the feeling. He grabbed the novel he had been reading and fluffed the pillows up on his bed and started to read.

Carole came to tell him that there was stuff for sandwiches for lunch.

“Thanks for telling me,” he said, and then he went back to his reading.

Other than living to shower and go to the bathroom, Kurt didn’t leave his room the rest of the weekend except when he was required to sit at the table for dinner.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday morning before school he made his bed and checked everything in his room over. He put his baby book in his satchel. He took photos of the rest of his room before he left for Glee Club.

He went through the same steps every day for the rest of the week. Saturday morning, he got up before dawn, around 6:30, and got ready for the day. He put his laundry basket with clothes that needed washed and his laptop in his SUV. He took his empty garment bag with him as well.

Burt came out and sat down in the sofa. “Don’t you think it’s a little early to be running off?”

“You never said I had to wait until a certain time to leave.”

“Why are you making this so hard?”

“Someone is messing with my stuff, even with the keyed doorknob.”

“You’re just being paranoid.”

“I started taking pictures before I leave for school and when I get back from work, things have been moved.”

“Maybe you’re forgetting to lock the door, but I still don’t see why anyone would go in there. There’s nothing interesting in there.”

“A dare. A bet. Boys being boys?”

“Anyway, did you check the chore chart that Carole finally got put up last night?”

“No. Where is it?”

“On the fridge.”

Kurt walked into the kitchen and looked at it. He went back out into the living room. “It’s my week to clean the bathroom.” He went back and looked under the sink and came back out. “I’m not cleaning with those products. You can ground me until I’m 18, but I won’t do it. I’ll go buy the non-toxic stuff and I’ll clean it tonight before I take a shower. And unless there is actually a rule about how early I can leave, I’m leaving now. Dave’s expecting me in five minutes. I’m already running late.”

“There’s no rule right now about how early you can leave because Finn never get ups before 11 on the weekends.”

“I’ll see you tonight.” Kurt grabbed his basket and bags and left.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt pulled into the driveway and Dave was out the door before Kurt even got parked. He opened the back door and pulled the laundry basket out and took it inside. Kurt grabbed the garment bag and left his dance stuff in the back seat.

Kurt followed Dave into the laundry room and started his clothes. “I’ll be glad for some different ones this week. I had to wear those two weeks in a row since they were all I had at the house. Let’s go upstairs and I’ll grab clothes for this coming week to take back with me.” Once upstairs, Kurt grabbed 6 outfits and put them in the garment bag. He put socks and underwear in the pocket in the inside of the bag. He hung it in the closet to take out to the Navigator on their next trip downstairs.

Dave wrapped Kurt in his arms. “God, I’ve missed you so much, Fancy. It’s so weird without you here. Let’s snuggle until we have to go down and deal with the clothes. Did you eat breakfast?”

“No.” Kurt took his shoes and shirt off and lay down in the bed.

Dave took his shirt off as well, and lay down next to Kurt. “Have you been eating? You look like you’ve lost weight.”

“I can’t eat with Finn in the room. I’m too angry. I know something is going on in my room, but my dad dismisses what I say and Finn is just this ravenous pig. He eats my share at dinner every night when I say I’m not hungry. We’re not allowed to have food anywhere besides the kitchen. I guess some of the guys dumped stuff somewhere and Carole made the ‘eat in the kitchen’ rule. So, I can’t stash granola bars or anything in my room.”

“You have to eat. You’ll make yourself sick.”

“I’m eating lunch with you every day at school. I won’t starve.”

Dave turned Kurt’s face and looked him in the eyes for the first time since they were in New York. “I love you. You need to eat more. I’ll bring you a snack to eat on your way to the shop after school.”

“Rather than a snack, what would help more would be to come up with a way to figure out what’s going on in my room. I took pictures this past week.” He got up to get his phone and lay back down. “I took this Monday before I left. See, there are six pencils in the cup. They’re all leaning to the right side of the cup. When I came home from work Monday night, one of them was leaning to the left. Pencils don’t just move like that. Tuesday, I took pictures again. Look at the pillows on my bed. See how they’re placed?” He showed Dave. “Then after I got home from work, this is how they were.”

“The one on the end is moved a few inches to the right.”

“Yeah. My shampoo has been disappearing faster than I’m using it. One of the books on my shelf was moved one spot to the right of where it had been. Oh, one day I came home and my blinds were partially open when I know they had been shut when I left that morning.”

“You don’t think Finn is doing it?”

“No. I don’t think he has the attention span or perseverance to keep something like this up. Doing something once or twice to be annoying, sure. But he’s not really interacting with me. I figure that he was told that if he bothered me he’d get grounded.”

“So, who would do something like this?”

“All I can figure is one of the guys that comes to the house with Finn every afternoon, but I don’t know who all is there every day because they have to go home at 5:00. Maybe we can use your laptop and look up video surveillance equipment and I can buy something and set it up.”

“Maybe we can go look after ballet too.” He took Kurt’s phone and laid it on his bedside table. He rolled back and was met with Kurt lying on his side as well. Dave scooted forward enough to kiss him.

“Is it bad that I really want to push you onto your back and have my way with you?”

Dave laughed and kissed him again. “Actually, I’ve been hoping you would.”

“In that case…”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They made it to Quinn’s in time to pick her up for ballet. She hopped in the back and they drove to Findlay. When they came out of class, Judy and Paul were waiting for them.

“We thought we could all go eat at that place we like so much,” she said as Kurt and Quinn got close enough to hear her.

“Sounds good, Mom,” Quinn said.

“You two looked good in there. I peeked a few times,” she said.

“Thanks.”

“Will there be a performance?” she asked.

Kurt answered, “Actually we got these today.” Kurt pulled a flyer out of his bag and gave one to Judy.

“So, it’s going to be at the high school?” Paul said, looking over Judy’s shoulder.

Quinn answered. “It is. Kurt and I will have three featured pieces. Three duets – the one we did last summer and the one we did in December in the studio performances. And we gave Erik and Morgan a copy of the video from Regionals. The two of them learned Mike and Brittany’s parts. Rachel recorded the song and we’re going to use it to perform to. And then we’ll have the piece that we’ve been working on this semester.”

Kurt added, “Plus the group numbers we’ve learned in class. It’s going to be a full- length recital with pieces from the other advanced classes as well. The beginning and intermediate classes have their own recital three hours before ours. That way, they can redress and get something to eat and come back to watch us.”

“We’ll be there. Let me add it to my calendar now,” Judy said.

Paul pulled his phone out, put the date and time in, and then gave the flyer back. “Everyone ready?”

Quinn gave Kurt a kiss on the cheek and hugged Dave. “I’ll ride with them.” She hurried to catch up with Paul and Judy.

Dave took Kurt’s hand and they went out to the Navigator. Kurt tossed his bag into the back seat and got in to drive. He leaned over the center console and offered Dave a kiss. He smiled and leaned over it as well and kissed Kurt. They pulled out and headed to the restaurant.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Later that afternoon, Paul, Kurt, and Dave were talking in the den.

“So, you already tried to tell Burt about this?” Paul asked.

“Yeah. He basically said that I’m imagining things and acts like I’m trying to stir up trouble.”

“I’ll order the video camera you two found on Amazon, but only use it for this, okay?”

“We’re not going to make videos of ourselves and put them online or anything, Dad.”

“It’s just that the laws about stuff like this are tricky. But since you are recording the activity in your own bedroom, you’re fine. You can record from whatever angle you can get it set up where no one can see it, but once you have proof, you’ll need to use some kind of editing software to blur out the person’s face. You’re not trying to prosecute anyone. You’re just trying to prove a point.” He clicked. “It will be here Tuesday. Maybe you can let Dave bring your laptop home with him after school on Tuesday and he can get the software installed and get it so that it’s ready to go. Then Wednesday night when everyone is asleep, you can set it up and record on Thursday and Friday.”

“I’ll figure something out, but I’ll let Dave get it all set up and ready to go because obviously I can’t with having to keep my door open all the time. Thank you for ordering it. I’ll get the money and give it to you tomorrow.”

“I’m not in a hurry.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt put the triangle pillows on the bed and grabbed the books on the side shelves. He put Dave’s book on the bed and started to read. When Dave came out of the bathroom, he saw his book and got in bed with Kurt, who curled up close to him. Dave put his arm around Kurt’s shoulders and Kurt scooted in even closer.

“Can you read with just one hand?”

“I will because I want to hold you, even if that makes holding the book harder to do. God, I’ve missed all of the normal, little things we do together so much. The little kisses to the back of my neck when I’m cooking. How you run your hand across my shoulders every time you walk behind me and I’m sitting down. How your foot always manages to find its way onto my leg somewhere. How you look at me every once in a while and just smile at me when you’re reading. It’s all the little bits and parts of us that are missing every freaking day of my life now. No one has asked me a ridiculously detailed hypothetical question about Harry Potter in two weeks. I do miss us making out and stuff, but it’s all the other stuff that I miss so much more. You’re such a big part of my life and I feel all of the tiny places where you’re missing.”

“I’m nothing when I’m in that house. I get home from work, I sit at the table for dinner, and then spend the whole evening in my room. At least Finn arranged the furniture in his room differently than mine so he’s not sitting a desk where I can see him while I do my work. I just feel caught in a time continuum of monotony and aloneness.”

They both opened their books and started to read. After a couple of hours, Kurt stretched. He put his book on the side table and moved back to his spot. Dave followed suit. Once Dave had put his book to the side, Kurt straddled his lap and lay down on him, chest to chest. He tucked his nose into Dave’s neck. Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt and very gently ran his fingers in a soothing circular pattern near Kurt’s shoulder blades.

“I love you. I’m trying to be strong, but I’m not doing a very good job of it. I cry myself to sleep most nights. Things being moved around in my room is creeping me out.”

“I’m creeped out for you and I’m not even in the room.”

“That’s why I wanted you to bring my baby book here. It had been moved once, but I couldn’t find anything missing. I didn’t want to take a chance. I brought my drawings from when I was a kid too. If we go out, I can get a storage box or something for them, maybe at Michael’s or Office Depot.”

“Sure.”

Kurt stayed in that position until his feet fell asleep. “I have to stretch out. I can’t feel my feet.”

Dave scooted down in the bed a little. “Don’t get up. Just stretch out. I still want to be your pillow or bed or whatever.”

“Lean up. If you turn the pillow, it’s more for reclining than sitting up.” Kurt turned the pillow over. “Better?”

“As long as you don’t get up, I’m good. Except unbutton your shirt.” Dave unbuttoned his. “Don’t take it off. Your back will get cold.”

Once Kurt’s shirt was unbuttoned, he opened it and lay skin to skin on Dave’s chest and tucked his head back into Dave’s neck. Dave slipped his hands up under Kurt’s shirt and resumed the light caresses. Kurt just melted into Dave and actually fell asleep. He woke up about an hour later.

“I’m sorry, sweetie. I didn’t mean to actually fall asleep on you.”

“Well, I loved every second of it. You trust me enough to let me hold you while you sleep. I got the stuff we need to make a cheesecake and cookies. I thought maybe since we can’t go out on our dates on Monday afternoons anymore, maybe we could eat lunch with everyone on Mondays.”

“I don’t know. I can’t talk about this and I don’t know if I can act like I’m okay when I’m not. But we can definitely go bake. I love baking with you. It’s the first thing we ever really did together. And it was fun and it helped me see that there were probably other parts of you that I hadn’t seen that I might really like. And I was right. There are lots of parts of you that I like.” He propped on his elbows and kissed Dave. “Your lips are especially nice.” He pressed in and licked his way into Dave’s mouth and they continued to kiss. When they paused for air, Kurt said, “A very sexy tongue.”

Dave laughed.

“I’m very serious.” He leaned a bit closer and licked the edge of Dave’s ear, causing him to moan. “Your tongue does things that drive me wild.”

“Are you wanting a demonstration?”

“Are you offering?”

“Always.”

“Then yes. And then me, and then a shower. I want to wash your hair and for you to do my moisturizing.”

“And then we’ll need another rest and then we’ll make the cheesecake and cookies?”

“Sounds perfect.” Kurt started to undress.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Paul followed the sounds of laughter to the kitchen and found Kurt and Dave wrestling over a spatula. At the point in time he walked in, Kurt had grabbed it and started licking it, but that hadn’t detoured Dave from licking the other side of it while they were both still laughing. Paul shook his head and walked away before they noticed him.

Once they had licked their respective sides clean, Kurt put it in the dishwasher. He turned and hopped up on the counter and grabbed for Dave with his feet. He didn’t quite make it, but Dave scooted closer anyway. Kurt extended his arms and propped them on Dave’s shoulders. Now it was Dave who had to look up to kiss Kurt, which he did. Kurt ran his fingers through the hair and the base of Dave’s neck and across his shoulders and down his arms, stopping at his biceps, as he frequently did.

“Such a handsome sweetie.” Kurt pushed his hands up under the sleeves on Dave’s t-shirt and lightly massaged Dave’s arms.

“Mmm. You’re good at that, you know. You do it just right.”

Kurt kissed him. “Good because I love to make you feel good.”

Judy came around the corner from the dining room.

“Aren’t you two supposed to be making a cheesecake, not making out?” she teased.

“We’re doing both,” Kurt teased back.

She opened the fridge and got out a can of soda and reached for a glass and filled it with water from the pitcher in the fridge. “Is that cookie batter too?”

“It is. There’s a tray of cookies in the oven. We can’t put the cheesecake in until the cookies are all baked.”

“I see. Are you going to share the cookies?”

“Probably,” Kurt teased. “Where’s Quinn?”

“She went to babysit Stevie and Stacey.”

“Oh. If we put the cheesecake in, would you mind taking it out when the timer goes off?” Kurt slipped down off the counter and was ready to pull the cookie sheet out when the timer went off. He quickly spooned more dough onto another tray and put it in.

“Sure. Why?”

“Because I have a fun idea of what to do with these cookies, besides the ones we’ll leave here for you and Paul.” Kurt moved the cookies from the sheet to a plate to cool and spooned more dough onto the sheet again.

“Just let me know if you need me to get it out.” She went back into the den with Paul.

“So, what’s this idea of yours?”

“We go find them and play with them and let them eat cookies?”

“Okay.”

“Really?”

“You look so excited. Yes. Yes. Of course.” Dave kissed him.

“You’re a softie.”

“For you, definitely. Text Quinn. I’ll get the next batch out and pack these all in a container.”

When the next tray came out, Dave put the last of the batter on and put it back in. He put the plate of hot cookies in the freezer for a couple of minutes so he could pack them up right away. Kurt had gone upstairs and come back down wearing sweats, a hoodie, and his running shoes.

“I’m ready. Your turn. I’ll finish packing them up. We’re meeting them at the park. She’s texting Sam to come there when he gets off.”

Dave went up, changed, and came back down. Kurt had packed all but one plate of cookies up. He was putting the cheesecake in the oven when Dave came back in the room.

“Grab that plate and take it into the den for your dad and Judy.” Kurt picked up the storage container and followed him out of the room. He stood in the doorway waiting for Dave. “We’re going to the park with Quinn and Stevie and Stacey and Sam when he gets off.”

“Have fun,” Judy said. “Thanks for the cookies. “I’ll go take the cheesecake out when it beeps.”

“Thanks!”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sunday afternoon found the Karofsky household filled with people. Paul and Judy had invited the Evans family to go out on the lake with them that morning. When they came back everyone stayed for a late lunch.

Stevie and Stacey were sitting at the island learning to cook from Kurt. Sam and Dave were prepping and chopping. Kurt gave Stevie the job of shredding the white cheese and Stacey the job of shredding the yellow cheese, using a handheld rotary grater. It kept them busy and they had fun.

With so much help, it didn’t take long to get everything ready. They set up a buffet in the kitchen and everyone walked through, Stevie and Stacey getting to go first with Sam and Quinn’s help. They got them set up outside and came back in for their own food. Kurt and Dave sat with them outside. The adults let Sam and Quinn in front of them and it wasn’t long before they came out. The four adults stayed inside and ate.

“When we finish, we can play badminton and croquet.”

Stevie said, “We don’t know how.”

“No problem. At least three of us do and we’ll teach you.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dwight asked, “You’re sure that what they’ve done is illegal.”

“Absolutely,” Paul said. “If they bank doesn’t back down with my request, I’ll file an injunction tomorrow morning and you should be back in your house by tomorrow afternoon. That doesn’t fix the fact that you need to get those two payments made. But I will make sure that those fees disappear.”

Mary said, “We have enough to cover the two months now. It was the fees and the fact that they wouldn’t even speak to us if we didn’t agree to pay the entirety of the amount they said we owed with the fees.”

“Well, if you can write a check for the two payments, I’ll take it with me tomorrow and this will all be over. I can get you in touch with a good realtor if you want to put your place on the market and look for something more affordable given your current income.”

Mary said, “That would be great. We didn’t think that would be an option, but it would be for the best. That’s where why we were gone yesterday. We went to check out a place in Kentucky.”

“If you decide to move and Sam wants to finish out the school year here, he can stay with us. Kurt said that Sam will be 18 in a month, so there shouldn’t be any issues with him staying.” Paul said.

“That’s really kind of you. I’d hate to move him in a month or whenever we can get things settled. We don’t want to make Stevie and Stacey change schools either, but it’s a lot harder in high school. The classes at each school are so different and taking a final exam at a school he hardly went to won’t help his grades any. And he’s worked hard to get to perform at Nationals in New York. We don’t want him to miss out on that.”

Paul nodded. “It would be fine. We have room. And if things get too crowded, someone can sleep on the couch in the den or the studio. We can make it work.”

Mary said, “I don’t mean to be nosy, but do you live here as well, Judy?”

“Oh, no. Quinn and I have our own place. Paul and I haven’t set a date yet.”

She continued, “So, Dave and Puck live here, but not Kurt anymore.”

Paul answered. “Kurt did live here for a year. Burt had him move in with them two weeks ago. He married Finn’s mom this past November. Dave and Kurt have been together for a year and a half. And yes, Puck lives here as well. He’s in Columbus with his sister and his grandmother every weekend. I have temporary guardianship until he turns 18 at the beginning of August.”

“Quinn hangs on Kurt like Stacey hangs on Stevie. Sam had to explain that Quinn was going to be Dave’s stepsister once the two of you get married,” Mary said. “I thought Kurt was Quinn’s brother.”

Judy said, “They became really good friends late last spring. They are a lot like siblings – ones that actually get along. She and Dave get along well too.”

Sam pulled the patio door open. He let Stevie step inside and followed him into the kitchen. Stacey was next, followed by Quinn. They helped the kids get more food and take it back outside.

“She’s really good with them,” Mary said.

“She loves kids. That’s what made last year all the more difficult. Had she been a couple of years older, I’m sure she would have made a different choice. She just wasn’t ready at 15.”

Dwight said, “We got married right out of high school and had Sam less than a year later. It was rough being so young. We thought we’d made it through the tough times and waited 10 years to have more kids. And now we’re back into the tough times again. But we’ll work through them, with your help this time. I can’t thank you enough for that.”

“When you all are ready to leave, we can swing by my office for the two of you to sign something for me really quick so I can take care of this on your behalf.”

“Sure. No problem,” Dwight said. “So far, the kids just think it’s a vacation. We didn’t know what else to tell them. We’ve been at the motel for a week and now they got to go out on the lake on a boat. If we do get back into the house tomorrow, they’ll never be the wiser about it, which would be great. I know they aren’t babies anymore, but I still would like them to keep their innocence for a few more years.”

Judy said, “Help yourselves if you want more. They cooked plenty for everyone.”

Paul got up to go back for more.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

By Monday afternoon, the Evans family had ended their stay at the motel on the edge of town and they were back in their house. They had a realtor scheduled for Tuesday to list the house.

Wednesday, Dave brought Kurt’s laptop to school with him with everything set up to use. Kurt didn’t park in his usual area, but close to one of the side entrances to the school. Toward the end of fifth period, he asked to go to the nurse. He left and went to the house and quickly set up the camera in the location he had chosen over the previous few days and that he had prepped with Velcro and knew exactly how he was going to place each component.

He left the house as soon as he was done and went back school and took the pass he had and went to the nurse’s office. She looked up, but didn’t bother to read it and pointed to the area where he could lie down. He just stood in there for about 10 minutes, not wanting to touch anything. He came back out and she signed his pass and he went to his sixth period class and sat down in the back next to Dave.

Kurt followed Dave to the library where he logged into the website that could remotely control the camera and they turned it on. Dave left the library to go home and monitor it to make sure it stayed on from 3:00-5:00. Kurt grabbed a couple of books he thought might work for his history paper and checked them out and left. He went straight to the shop.

“You’re late,” Burt said.

“I had to stop by the library to get some books for a US History paper. They’re in the Navigator to use when I get to the house tonight. I figured if I went before I came here, I’d get the best selection by getting there before everyone else.”

“Alright. Get busy though.”

Kurt headed off to change and get started.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Friday evening was one of Finn’s scheduled evenings to cook, so Kurt looked at the menu Thursday evening and purposefully took the only jar of spaghetti sauce from the pantry and moved it behind two giant boxes of cereal so that it couldn’t be seen.

Friday when Kurt came home from work, Finn was having a cow.

“The sauce is gone.”

“It’s not a big deal, Finn. Just go to the store and buy another jar. Actually get two because your mom buys a really big one at Sam’s. I’ll even brown the meat for you while you run and do it.”

“Really? Thanks. I’ll be right back.” Finn took off.

Kurt went into his room and undid the surveillance equipment and put the camera in his satchel. He put the laptop back on his shelf and immediately went back to the kitchen and browned the meat like he said he would. He finished five minutes before Finn got back. He left the meat on the stove and went in his room and started to look some stuff up for his US History paper that he needed to finish so he’d have the whole weekend free.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Saturday morning, Kurt put his satchel along with his dirty clothes and laptop in his laundry basket and loaded it into the Navigator. He managed to get his dance bag out at the same time. He hadn’t planned on going back inside, but his name was called from the front door.

“Kurt.”

He shut the back door and went around the front. “Yes, Dad?”

“8:00.”

“I can’t leave until 8:00? Why?”

“That’s early enough.”

“Fine. I’ll just sit in the Navigator for the next 40 minutes until I can officially leave.” He walked back around and got in the driver’s seat and closed the door and locked it.

Burt walked around to the side. “Did you eat?”

“No, Dave was making me breakfast. I’m getting ready to text him to tell him I can’t leave for 40 minutes. Maybe he can keep it warm that long or maybe he hasn’t cooked much of it yet.”

“Just go.”

“Thank you.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Sorry I’m late. My dad nearly made me stay another 40 minutes. They decided that leaving the house before 8:00 is too early on the weekends.”

Dave put Kurt’s plate of food in front of him.

Kurt started eating right away. “This is really good. You know I love French toast. And turkey sausages and eggs too. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re trying to do. I’m not a turkey and I don’t need plumped up for serving.”

“I’m not trying to fatten you up. I just like seeing you eat things you love. You can stop eating whenever you’re full. I can put the rest in the freezer and eat it one morning before school.” Dave kissed him on the cheek and sat down with his own plate and started to eat. “So, I have all of the footage. Wanna take a guess who it is?”

“Not really because as much as I know I was right, I wanted you to tell me I was wrong.”

“You weren’t wrong. It’s Langanthal and Finn.”

“Alright. Now, what?”

“Now, we move you back out. The table, your schoolbooks and whatever personal care products you left behind. We should be able to get it all out in 10 minutes. I showed my dad the videos last night. I blurred out the faces. He invited your dad and Carole over for brunch at 11:30.”

“So, we’re going to stop by the house on the way back from Findlay and grab that stuff?”

“Yep. And we’re going to come home for the showdown.”

“We’ll see. My dad is pretty pig-headed.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They returned to the house at noon and parked in the garage. They came in through the front door. They could hear arguing as soon as they opened the door.

Kurt dropped his dance bag on the stairs and they went into the dining room.

“Kurt, Dave,” Paul said. “Grab some food. Have a seat.”

They did as they were told.

“So, I’ve discussed Kurt’s return to living with us here and Burt is not interested in hearing what I have to say.”

Dave asked, “Did you show him?”

“Not yet. I wasn’t sure where your laptop was.”

“Well, then let me get it.” He sat it on the table and brought up the footage from Wednesday. “There – at 3:41. Someone opens Kurt’s door and goes inside and looks around. He picks up one of Kurt’s pillows and puts it back.”

“What’s he doing? I can’t tell since the face has been blurred.”

“He’s sniffing the pillow.”

“Creepy.” Kurt shivered.

“Then again at 4:19. Someone else enters the room with no effort. Obviously intruder #1 left the door unlocked. He goes in empty handed and comes out with a pencil. A half-hour later, he returns with the pencil and comes out empty handed. And locks the door behind him on the way out.”

“Less creepy than the first person, but still,” Kurt said.

“Those were the only events on Wednesday. Thursday, the same person that broke in on Wednesday breaks in again. This time, he opens Kurt’s closet and rifles through Kurt’s dresser first, and then his laundry and takes a pair of his socks.”

“I hadn’t even finished the laundry to realize that those are missing. Again, creepy.”

“A second entry later shows someone going in and taking one of his skin care products leaving the room with it and taking it back a few minutes later.”

“I told you my stuff was disappearing too quickly for it to be normal usage.”

“That person locks the door and pulls it closed at 4:50. Friday the person entered, opened Kurt’s blinds and left the room. A second person entered and rifled through the desk drawer and took some scissors. He put them back and relocked the door at 4:50.”

Carole asked, “Why was I not told that something fishy was going on?”

“Dad thought I was making it up or being paranoid.”

Paul spoke. “For Kurt’s safety, it’s better than this isn’t spoken of outside the five of us who have seen this footage. The one person’s actions are creepy and the other person clearly just doesn’t have any sense of boundaries and maintaining them.”

Burt said, “I want to know who they were.”

Dave shook his head.

Kurt said, “I don’t want to press charges. I’m just not going to stay where this kind of thing goes on. I told you what would happen. You didn’t listen. You forced me back. Even with a keyed lock on my door, people don’t leave my stuff alone. I can’t live someplace where people go in my room and sniff my pillows and steal my socks and dump out my skin care products. It’s all psychological warfare to make me feel crazy. I’m done. I’m staying here. If you try to do something to force me home, this time I will run away until I’m 18. And then I will come back and move in with Dave and Paul again.”

“You can’t threaten me like that. You’re a minor.”

“Watch me.” Kurt got up, walked out of the room, and went outside and got in Dave’s truck and drove out of the driveway.

“I’ll call the police.”

Paul said, “Do that and you’ll never see him again.”

“Burt, calm down. I know who the second person is. It’s Finn. I can tell from his movements, face blurred or not. That’s Finn. Kurt didn’t want to name him. As much crap as Finn has put him through, Kurt was still trying to protect you and me from knowing. I can’t ID the other guy. I’m not familiar enough with all of the other guys who hang around to be able to identify their hands or their movements.”

Dave said, “Other than whatever he was doing with Kurt’s skin or hair care stuff, the other things with the pencil and the scissors seemed to just be the need for something that he didn’t know where else to find other than in Kurt’s room. Perhaps, you need a drawer in the kitchen to keep spare pencils, maybe chain the scissors to the inside of the drawer so no one can walk away with them and misplace them. I don’t know what to say about the other stuff. Maybe he’s just holding a grudge about being required to repay Kurt for breaking that bottle like a year ago.”

Paul said, “If you want to prosecute or revoke visiting privileges to the other person, I’d suggest you set up a camera yourself and not tell anyone that Kurt has moved out, not even Finn. Set up a camera and record what goes on when you’re not home. I’ll sell the camera Kurt used to you for what I paid for it. You’ll save having to pay the shipping on it. Dave can even demonstrate how to set it up.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Just remember that Kurt does NOT want anyone to know that he knows. You could put him in danger if the person finds out that he knows,” Paul said. “As before, you and Carole are welcome to come over whenever you have time. You need to call Kurt and tell him that you are going to let him live here. I love him like he’s my own son and I want him safe, not out spending the night who knows where in Dave’s truck.”

“He belongs with me.”

Paul said. “It comes down to Finn living with you or Kurt living with you because, obviously, they can’t live together right now. Make your choice. Either you have to move out of the new house and find a place to live with Kurt or you need to let him live here with us where you know he’s safe and loved.”

Dave spoke emphatically, “You continue to hurt the person I love most in this world. And I’ve reached my limit. He’s an amazing, intelligent, funny, snarky, interesting, talented, hard-working, helpful, loving, and kind person. Call him and tell him he can live here with us. Do what’s best for him.”

Burt pulled his phone out and sent Kurt a text.

\--You can live with the Karofsky’s. Come back.


	28. Chapter 28

Kurt heard his phone ping. He pulled over the next place he could and took it out of his pocket to see what it said.

\--You can live with the Karofsky’s. Come back.

Kurt didn’t respond, but he turned around and drove back home.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

About 20 minutes later, Kurt pulled up in the driveway. Burt’s truck was still there. He was hesitant about getting out. He texted Dave.

\--Is this a trick? My dad is still here. I’m not coming in if he’s just going to try to convince me again that things aren’t as bad as I think they are.

He didn’t get a response, but the front door opened and Dave came out. He unlocked the passenger side of the truck and got in. He scooted to the center and turned towards Kurt.

“As far as I can tell, it’s not a trick, but if you don’t want to go inside, we can go somewhere else if you want.”

“I’ll come in. I’m sorry I ran off in your truck. I shouldn’t have taken it without asking.”

“Kurt, it’s fine. Look at me.” He waited and took Kurt’s hand and interlaced their fingers. “Whatever I have, it’s yours.”

“I took it because I knew that my dad couldn’t legally call and report it stolen since it doesn’t belong to him.”

“Well that was good thinking, and I don’t mind at all. I’d give you anything in my power to give.”

“I know. You spoil me.”

“And I fully intend on continuing to do so.” He brought Kurt’s hand up to his lips and kissed it.

“Actually, I do know what I want to do.” He pulled out of the driveway and headed to the Hummel-Hudson home. “Maybe Finn isn’t home, but if he is, you’ll need to stay in the truck since Finn doesn’t know anything about what’s happened and according to the rules, I’m not allowed to have you over when Dad or Carole isn’t home.”

“Why are we going there?”

“I want my legal documents and I need to see the title to the Navigator. I think my dad’s name is actually on it with mine. He went with me to the clerk’s office to fill out the paperwork. When the title came in the mail, he just put it in his safe without even taking it out of the envelope. If his name is on the title, we’ll leave it there, and we’ll come back home, clean out the Navigator, drive it back, and leave it parked in the garage. I’m just over it.”

Dave didn’t say anything and they rode in silence the rest of the way there. When they pulled into the driveway, Finn’s truck wasn’t there, just Carole’s car. Kurt went around to the side of the house and looked in through the garage window. The garage was empty. He walked back around to the front.

“He’s not here.”

“I’ll still just wait out here in case he comes home. I’ll call you if he pulls up.”

“Okay.”

Kurt unlocked the front door, went straight to the laundry room. He found Burt’s file safe on the lower shelf. He took it off the shelf and sat it on the desk. He opened it up and went through the files. He pulled out his birth certificate, his social security card, and the envelope with the title. He used a letter opener to slit the top carefully. He pulled the title out and found that his dad had signed the paperwork for Kurt to be the sole owner of the Navigator. He kept the title out. He locked the safe back and put it on the lower shelf again. He slipped his birth certificate and social security card into the envelope with the title and went back outside. He locked the door behind him and got in the passenger side of the truck.

Dave scooted over, started the truck, and pulled out of the driveway. “Now what?”

Kurt put the envelope in the glove box. “Now, we go back and see what they have to say, I guess. I just wanted those documents. The Navigator title is in my name, but I’ll need to get it removed from my dad’s insurance policy. I’ll deal with that Monday. I’ll have to skip school to do it though. I’ll talk to your dad so he can call me out.”

A few minutes later, they were back in the driveway. Kurt took the envelope out and pressed the garage door opener. Dave followed him. Kurt put the envelope in the glove box of the Navigator.

“Help me get the table out, please.”

The two of them pulled the table out and sat it against the wall to get it out of the way. Kurt left the other stuff in the back. He grabbed Dave’s sleeping bag off the shelf and put it in the back.

Kurt squared his shoulders and walked into the dining room. “This time you’re signing papers. I’m not doing this again.”

“I won’t,” Burt said.

Kurt turned and walked out the door that led to the studio. Dave had been standing in the doorway. He stepped back. Kurt hugged and kissed him. “I love you. I’ll be back on my birthday.” He ran through the studio and back out to the garage. He pulled the Navigator out of the garage and left again.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave stood in the doorway, tears running down his cheeks. “He still loves you and you’re a jackass. At this very moment, I hate you.” He moved to the table and cleared the plates, loaded the dishwasher, and washed the stuff in the sink.

“Burt, reconsider,” Paul urged. “It’s just for four and a half months.”

“No. I swore to Lizzie that I would never let anyone take him from me.”

“You already broke that promise.”

“He chose to leave.”

“You gave him a choice. He made it. He lived up to his end of the deal. You didn’t keep your end. Now, he’s gone.”

“I’ll call the police and report him as a runaway. They’ll bring him back to the house.”

Paul said, “Burt, you’re being unreasonable. I don’t understand this at all. You and I were friends. We spent a lot of time together last fall. And now, you’re like this person I don’t know.”

“Living with Carole and Finn, I saw how wrong I was to treat Kurt like an adult in a child size body. He needed me and I let him replace Lizzie. I let him do all of the things she did. I didn’t have to be his father. We were equals. We lived together the way to adults live together. He did his thing. I did mine. We did a few things together, like camping and fishing. Living with them and seeing her have to teach Finn all of this stuff that Kurt knew how to do forever ago made me realize how much pressure I had put on him over the years. I was okay with him moving on with his adult life because that’s how we had been. He came and went as he pleased. He was neat, organized, and considerate. I saw Finn and it really reminded me how I was as a teenager. Kurt deserves to have that. I feel like no matter what I do it’s the wrong thing now. I want him to have what’s left of his life here in Lima without all of that pressure I put on him. Making him work so much and pay for everything – that was wrong of me. He should have been out making friends and having fun like I did, like Finn does.”

Paul said, “I get that in a way. I do. If you had stayed living in your original house and you had let Carole and Finn continue to live on their own, you could have sat Kurt down and talked to him and apologized for making him grow up too quickly. You could have started to pay for things that you had made him pay for and you could have let him work fewer hours and given him more time to spend with his friends. Those are things you could have done over a year ago. You and Carole could have talked about the very different places that Kurt and Finn were at in their levels of maturity. While you were lowering Kurt’s responsibilities, she could have been raising her expectations for Finn. If you had waited to move in together until they had reached the same level of maturity, Finn would not have needed so many rules anymore. You could have moved in together in a house big enough for all of you to start with. You could have had conversations about everyone’s responsibilities and the expectations you two had for each of them. You could have given Kurt a chance to get to know Carole. He could have talked to her about why he does things a certain way. They could have come to some compromises that made them both feel comfortable. Carole could have had the time to get to know Kurt to find out what a great person he is. All of these things COULD have happened, but they didn’t. Instead, you got your quills up and gave Kurt a list of rules that didn’t fit his level of maturity and you forced him to share his room with someone who previously bullied him. He left. He paid you for the furniture he took with him that he hadn’t bought himself. He’s paid for everything for over a year. He even planned your wedding for free and bought YOU a wedding gift. He’s continued to make straight A’s. He did and Dave did two-thirds of the work on your new house. And now you want him to go back to being a child. It doesn’t work that way. Would you trade your freedom for someone to pay your bills? Would you give up seeing Carole except when you had a chaperone? Would you do those things for love? He did. He did what you wanted because he doesn’t want to cause you stress. He gave up everything to make you happy and when he shows you why he doesn’t feel safe in your home, only then do you let him go back to how things were when HE was happy. You two jumped the gun last year. You didn’t talk things through. He made the best of a bad situation. Now, he’s gone.”

“He took clothes, toiletries, and a sleeping bag,” Dave said. “But I have no idea where he’s going.”

“He’s resourceful,” Paul said. “For all I know, he’ll go to Columbus or Cincinnati and find a room to rent and get a job to pay for the things he needs. If you think the fact that he’s not 18 will keep people from renting him a room, you’re wrong. Cash talks.”

“This is insane. All I wanted was to give him time to be a kid.”

“He isn’t a kid. He hasn’t been for quite a while. All this feels like to him is being punished for being himself. You know so little about him. It’s sad. But you’re making the wrong choice here. If you sign the guardianship forms and he becomes completely my responsibility for the next four and a half months, you’ll still get to be part of his life and he probably won’t end up hating you. Or you live with the fact that he’s gone for the next four and a half months and you’ll have no idea where he is.”

“I won’t be blackmailed or forced.”

“Fine. I’ll see you out. You aren’t welcome here anymore.” Paul stood. “Just remember that you did this. You’re the one that went back on your agreement.”

“Burt, you can’t be serious?” Carole asked. “You’re not seriously going to just let Kurt live who knows where scraping by for the next four months just because we were rash and rushed things and didn’t think through our choices. I didn’t like what happened, but I was okay with it because it was obvious that Kurt was happy and loved here. But I am NOT okay with him just living wherever brokenhearted.”

“He made a choice to run off. I said he could stay here.”

Dave blurted out, “Big lot of nothing your word means. You said that before and then you made him move back in with you.”

“Don’t speak to me that way.”

“I’ll speak any way I damn well please. The person I love is gone and it’s your fault.”

“Burt, you are not the person I thought you were if you leave Kurt out there alone.”

“He’s just being stubborn. He’ll be back.”

“Well, I’m leaving. Finn and I will spend the night at Velma’s tonight. When you come to your senses, give me a call. I’ll be out looking for an apartment I can afford.” She stood up. “Dave, I hate to bother you, but could you drive me to the house so I can get my car?”

“Um, sure.”

“No.” Burt stood, but grabbed for the back of his chair to steady himself. “I’ll take you back to the house. I need to go lie down anyway. I’m not feeling that great.”

“I think we’ll go to the hospital,” she said.

“I’m just a little dizzy.”

“I’m driving and I’m taking you to the hospital. You’re not well. Give me your keys.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt’s phone pinged with a text. He pulled it out of his pocket.

\--Carole took your dad to the hospital.

He responded.

\--Why?

\--He was dizzy and not feeling well.

\--Did you go too? Is he okay?

\--I didn’t go. I figured we wouldn’t know anything for a while. My dad went. He’ll text me.

\--I’m still in Lima. I’m sitting in the Lima Bean. I’ll come home. I’ll be there in a few minutes.

Kurt pulled into the garage and parked. Dave met him at the door.

“Any word?”

“He’s been taken back. That’s all I know.” Dave pulled him in to a hug.

Kurt broke down in sobs. Dave had to hold on tight to keep Kurt from falling to floor. “I did this to him. I stormed out and I did this to him. He’s going to die and it’s going to be my fault. I should have just gotten a deadbolt installed on the bedroom door. I could have just bought a new door that had a deadbolt on it already. I was being ridiculous. Four and a half more months. I’ll go back to live with him if he doesn’t die. I can’t do this.”

Dave slipped his hand down and picked Kurt up bridal style and carried him over to the sofa and sat down. Kurt wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck and didn’t let go when he sat down. Dave held him against his chest and let him cry. Once Kurt had calmed down a little, Dave rearranged and lay back with his head on one of the throw pillows and he pulled Kurt on top of his chest still.

“I’ve got you. You didn’t do this. We don’t know what’s going on, but you’ll see that it’s not your fault.”

Kurt’s breathing was ragged from all the crying. Dave ran his hand up and down Kurt’s back soothingly. About an hour later, Dave phone pinged. Kurt got up so Dave could get to it.

\--Burt’s being admitted. His carotid artery is 70% blocked. He’ll go in for surgery this afternoon.

\--Okay. Kurt came home. He’s with me. He’s blaming himself. We’ll come.

He put his phone away. “Burt’s carotid artery is 70% blocked. He’s being admitted and he’s going to have surgery.”

“Is that bad? I don’t remember reading anything about a carotid artery.”

“You can look it up. I’ll drive us over there.”

Kurt stood up. As soon as Dave finished stretching, Kurt wrapped his arms around his neck. “Thank you.”

Dave kissed him, barely more than a peck. “Always. I love you. Let’s go over there. The surgery isn’t immediate. They’re moving him to a room, I think.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt and Dave went to the room Burt had been moved to.

“Hey, kiddo,” Burt said when they came into the room.

“Hey.”

“So, they’re going to cut me open and fix me up.”

“I heard.”

The doctor came in the room. “Mr. Hummel. I see we have more visitors. So, your surgery will be in a couple of hours. The nurse will be in to prep you. What we’re going to do is called a carotid endarterectomy. We’ll make a vertical incision along your neck. We’ll open up your carotid artery, clean it out, sew it up, sew up the external incision and you’ll be good to go. You’ll go to the ICU right after surgery, but by tomorrow morning, you should be back in a regular room. You’ll be able to go home Monday or Tuesday.”

“Will that fix the problem permanently?” Kurt asked.

“He’ll have a follow up with his cardiologist. I think he’ll probably end up on some type of blood thinner and something to lower his cholesterol at least initially. He’s lucky that he started showing signs of the dizziness. And through our discussion, some memory issues and difficulty thinking hadn’t raised any red flags, which is common. But since we found this, once he’s treated, his risk for stroke will drop 80%. He needs to follow the directions the cardiologist will give him when he comes in to see him.”

“So, this wasn’t caused by stress?”

“Well, stress has a negative impact on all parts of our bodies, but it wasn’t directly caused by stress. It’s caused by a build up of plaque in the artery causing it to narrow and slow blood flow to the brain.”

Kurt nodded.

Carole asked, “How long will he need to be off from work?”

“Usually about 1-2 weeks, if he can go back and not do any lifting. If lifting is required, it will be longer because of the incision needing to heal.”

She said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. The nurse should be in to get him ready in a little while.” He left the room.

Kurt leaned back into Dave, who wrapped his arms around Kurt and kissed him gently on the neck. Kurt unwrapped Dave’s arms and moved to the side of the bed.

He took Burt’s hand. “I’ll move my stuff back to the house. I’m sorry. I’ll be good. I’ll do everything you say. I’ll get a better lock so no one can get in my room. I’ll even watch baseball with you and not make fun of their stirrup pants. I’ll go for walks with you every night to make sure you stay healthy. I should have never moved out. I’ll cook dinner every night too – just to make sure you eat right. I’ll just work two hours each afternoon and give Puck the extra hour those three other days.”

Unbeknownst to Kurt, the nurse had come into the room. When Kurt finished, the nurse stepped farther into the room. “Can I get everyone to step out of the room for a few minutes? There are a few things I need to do.”

“Sure,” Carole said.

Kurt squeezed Burt’s hand before he let go and the four of them left the room.

The nurse moved the cart right up next to Burt’s bedside. He started prepping to do the ultra-close shave of the area where the incision would be.

“It’s none of my business, but you have a wife. Why’s your kid acting like it’s his job move back home and take care of you? You’re a grown ass man. Go for walks yourself. Make your own damn healthy dinner. Why’s your kid need a better lock on his door? You got some weird shit going on.”

“Are you sure you’re a nurse?”

“I’m damn sure. I didn’t spend six years in college and nursing school for nothing.”

“It didn’t seem to improve your vocabulary.”

“I figured you were a grown up. Should I use my sweet voice I use for the kids? They all love me. I got a pocket full of cool stickers. Transformers, Barbie, My Little Pony, VeggieTales. You name it, I got it. But you sound like you could use a kick in the ass not a sticker.”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Maybe not, but I can see a kid with a face full of guilt for something he didn’t have anything to do with. I had my own manipulative son-of-a-bitch dad who would have used a surgery to get me to do what he wanted. He didn’t want me to be a nurse. ‘Being a nurse is a woman’s job,’ he told me. He said I should be an engineer or a doctor if I wanted to study medicine. Well, I don’t want to be an engineer or a doctor. I like being a nurse. I get to take care of people, help people get well, and all of the decisions on what needs done don’t fall on my shoulders.”

“Well, I’m not a son-of-a-bitch dad, so there’s nothing for you to be concerned about.”

“I’m not so sure given the brokenhearted look on that kid’s face.” He finished up what he was doing and wiped Burt’s neck down. “Well, that’s done. If you’re back in this ward tomorrow morning, I’ll see you then.” He took the cart and left the room. As he passed the others in the hall, he said, “You all can go back in. I did what I needed to do.”

Carole nodded and everyone followed her back into the room.

They sat and stood around for a while in silence. Eventually an orderly came in. “It’s time for me to wheel him down to the pre-op area. The surgery will take 1-2 hours. If you leave a contact number, we can call when he’s out of surgery or you're welcome to wait downstairs. I can’t let you wait here because he will be headed to ICU afterwards.”

Kurt and Carole gave their numbers to the orderly, who added them to Burt’s chart.

Kurt squeezed Burt’s hand again before the orderly got the bed moving.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt let Dave take him out to the truck to wait. He knew that Kurt wouldn’t want to deal with the stares when he held Dave’s hand if they waited in the hospital.

“We should have brought the Navigator. We could have laid out in the back and snuggled.”

“We can go home and get it and bring it back. He won’t even be going into surgery for another 30 minutes at least.”

“Okay.”

They left and came back and were gone less than 30 minutes. They had put the back seats down and grabbed two of the throw pillows from the sofa in the studio before they came back. Kurt backed into a spot near the end of the row. He and Dave got out and climbed into the back. Kurt unrolled the sleeping bag and they lay down on it. Kurt turned on his side facing away from Dave and scooted back to be the little spoon. Dave wrapped his arm around Kurt and held him close. They lay in silence for a long time. Dave could tell that Kurt was crying again.

“This isn’t your fault. He’s the adult. Try to think clearly. If my dad chose not to follow doctor’s guidelines would it be my fault if he ended up in the hospital?”

Kurt shook his head.

“I know that now isn’t the best time, but I think maybe we need to consider going to see a therapist or something. I know you love your dad, but he’s not your responsibility. He’s responsible for his own care. He’s 44. He’s been an adult for 26 years. You’re not even an adult yet – close, but not quite.”

“In theory, I can agree with you, but that’s not how I feel.”

“And that’s clear, but what I think is that you need to get another opinion, a professional opinion.”

“I’ll think about it. He needs to go too.”

“I think so too.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt’s phone rang and he was told that Burt was out of surgery and that in another hour, he could visit him in ICU then.

“We need to eat something,” Dave said.

“I’m not hungry.”

“I know, but we still need to eat something. I’ll drive us to wherever you want.”

“Just pick because I don’t care.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave parked. “Do you want me to come in with you or wait here? I know they won’t let me in. Just you and Carole. And I guess Finn if he’s here.”

“I do want you to come.”

They got out and headed up to the ICU area. Dave took a seat in the waiting area and Kurt let the nurse at the desk know he was there. She accompanied him to the room to see Burt. She had to ask Carole to step out since only one person could be in the room at a time. He went in. Burt was a groggy still.

“Hey, Dad.”

Burt didn’t say anything.

“You don’t need to try to talk. I’m sure your throat is sore. I won’t stay. I’ll let Carole come back in. I just wanted to see you. I’m glad you’re going to be okay.” Kurt squeezed his hand. “I’ll come back tomorrow morning after they’ve moved you to a regular room.” He squeezed his hand again and left.

He went back to the waiting area. Carole was sitting there with Dave. She stood up when he got closer.

“Paul went home. Finn’s on his way here. I’ll go back and stay with Burt.” She put her hand on his shoulder. “Honey, I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say. Please stay with Paul and Dave until Burt is well enough to talk about things again.”

“I will. I meant what I said. I’ll move back. I’ll get a better lock, a deadbolt or maybe one of those fancy ones that is done by a code so that no one can get in there.”

“We’ll talk about it more when Burt’s home. You stay with Paul, okay? Promise me you will.”

“I promise.”

She nodded. She went back down to Burt’s room.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday morning, Kurt went to the hospital instead of going to school. Burt had been in a regular room since the previous morning. Kurt pushed the door open and walked in.

“Hey, Dad.”

“Hey, kiddo.”

“You’re looking a lot better.”

“Well, I sure feel a lot better than I did yesterday.”

“That’s good.” Kurt picked up the TV remote and turned it to ESPN and sat down in the chair and looked up at the TV. “The major league games started a little over a week ago. Anyone you think’s going to make it big this year?”

Kurt pressed the record button on his phone’s voice memo app. He knew that he couldn’t keep track of all of the names Burt would say or even remember the team names, but he could look them up later by recording them. When Burt got tired and rested, Kurt worked on schoolwork.

The doctor came in around 11:00. “Good morning, Mr. Hummel, and son?”

“Yes. I’m Kurt.” He stood and extended his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.” He sat back down.

“Well, everything is looking good. I’m going to send you home after lunch. You’ll just need someone to take you home. You’ll need to follow up with your cardiologist. An appointment has already been made. You’ll see it on your discharge paperwork. You can make an appointment with your GP to get those stitches taken out in a week.”

“Does he need to do anything specific?”

“No. Just rest and recover.”

“At least in the new house I can sleep in my own bed instead of being stuck downstairs.”

Kurt nodded.

“The list of medications is on the discharge information sheets as well. A couple of prescriptions will need filled. They’ll be paper-clipped to the sheets. Just follow all of the directions and follow up with your cardiologist, who may very well wean you off of one or two of the medicines.”

Burt said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I wish you a speedy recovery.” He went on his way.

Kurt went into the bathroom and washed his hands. “So, can you get up and get dressed on your own or do you want me to call a nurse in to help you?”

“I’ll call for the nurse. I need the instructions on how to shower before I leave.” He pressed the call button.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

A little after 2:00, Kurt pulled up in the driveway. He unlocked the door, and then helped Burt out of the Navigator and into the house. He got out some pajamas and put them on the bed.

“Go ahead and change. I’ll make you something to eat. What they served for lunch was atrocious.”

Kurt went outside to grab the bag from the pharmacy. He decided to make a pot of vegetable soup. He left a list of the items he had used so that Carole wouldn’t end up in the middle of something and find that she was missing a needed ingredient. He turned the heat down after it had boiled for a few minutes.

He knocked on the door. “The soup’s done. Do you need help out?”

“I’m good. I’ll be right there.” Burt came out and sat down at the table.

Kurt ladled soup into a bowl and put it on the table in front of Burt. He opened the bag from the pharmacy and read the labels. “Where do you keep your other medicine?”

Burt pointed to one of the drawers. Kurt opened it and took the bottle out.

“Well, you’re in luck. All of them are either once or twice a day. None of the frustrating three times a day types. So, you won’t need anymore until 7:00 tonight. Hand me your phone.” Kurt took it and set an alarm to go off at 6:55 and handed it back. “When that goes off, go take the twice-a-day pills.” Kurt put all of the bottles in the drawer in the little basket.

“Eat some soup yourself. You need to eat too.”

He almost argued with Burt that the soup was for him, but he turned and ladled some soup into another bowl and sat down at the table with Burt. When they finished, Kurt packed up the leftovers, put the dishes in the dishwasher, washed the pot and ladle, dried them, and put them away.

“Come sit down in the living room.”

Kurt followed Burt. He got Burt comfortable on the sectional and covered his legs with the throw. He went back to the kitchen and brought a chair in and put it near Burt’s feet so that Burt could see him without having to move his neck.

“I had a talk with the doctor when you weren’t there yesterday. When they were moving me from ICU to the room. The headaches I’d been having and some memory issues, along with some fuzzy thinking were all symptoms of this carotid artery issue that I didn’t know about. I’m just thankful I went ahead and went in Saturday when I was dizzy. It’s likely I would have eventually had a stroke. Now, that’s not likely to happen.”

“I’m glad too, Dad.”

“And I had quite a few ‘kick my ass’ talks from that male nurse, Jason. He’s an opinionated guy. That’s for sure. But I spent a lot of time thinking about things he said. I said some things after you left Saturday that you need to hear. I didn’t do right by you when your mom died. I didn’t know what to do. You were so eager to keep everything going that I just let you. In my grief, I let you take her place in a lot of ways. I should have gotten us both some counseling. I should have taken some lessons from someone on how to run a household. I put you in a position a child shouldn’t be put in. I realized that after Carole and Finn moved in. Seeing him was like seeing a flashback of my life. The stupid stuff, the not knowing how to do anything for myself, the horsing around, all of it. And I realized that I had never seen you do any of that kind of thing. Your idea of horsing around was watching a video of a dance and practicing it until you got it perfect. Your idea of fun was for me to get that lady at the fabric store to teach you how to sew. You wanted to do all of the things your mom had done and I never stopped to ask myself why. I never asked you why.”

Kurt didn’t interrupt.

“When Carole and Finn moved in – after we got over the hump of Finn being so homophobic, we had other issues to deal with. You not being in the house made that easier. But once we were past a lot of it, I wanted us all to be together. I wanted you to have the teen fun that Finn was having. I wanted to give you what you hadn’t had.”

“A mom and a sibling?”

“Well, yes. But I wanted you to able to be the happy-go-lucky teen that Finn is. I wanted you to have that. And somehow my thinking got really muddled. I thought that you’d move in and you’d see how nice it is and you’d want to stay. I can’t even really explain where my thoughts went completely off track. I said you could live with Paul and Dave and you were happy. And I was jealous. But at the same time I was happy with Finn and Carole, but that made me angry with myself. So, between that and the jealousy and the frustration that I had been the one to cause all of this, I just don’t even know. Just so you know, I signed those papers this morning before you came to the hospital. I didn’t want to talk about it there. That’s why I waited until now. I want you to consider getting some counseling. Paul was the one to bring it up. I put you in a position you should have never had and now you feel responsible for me in a way that a child should never feel for his parent. A child shouldn’t have to be the responsible one. Now, I know when people get really old and can’t care for themselves, their children oftentimes do that, but that is not what I am referring to. I am 44 years old and there is nothing wrong with my ability to take a walk. I just don’t want to do it a lot of the time, so I don’t. It’s not your responsibility to remind me to take a walk. I’d rather eat burgers and fries and I do it far too often for lunch at work. There’s nothing wrong with my ability to pack a lunch or to drive to a place that serves something better for me. I just don’t do it. That’s not your responsibility. You’ve already spent too many years of your life being responsible for me. It’s time for you to move on. Some day when I’m old and gray, figuratively of course, because by then, I’m sure I’ll have no hair left, we’ll deal with whether I need you to take care of me.”

“But Dad, family members take care of each other.”

“They do, but you’ve already done far more than your fair share. That doesn’t mean that I don’t want to see you or know what’s going on in your life. But it means that it’s my job to take those pills when I’m supposed to and to do the other things I’m supposed to do. You would never consider letting me take the blame because you didn’t turn some paper in would you?”

“No.”

“It’s not your job to do my homework, in essence. It’s my job to learn how to do the things I need to do.”

“So the jealousy and the anger and the frustration?”

“I am still jealous that Paul connected with you in a way that I never did, but he came at it from a different angle. He wanted to befriend the person that you are. I still had this nonsense in my head that we could be like my dad and I were – you know, pals. We watched sports and bitched and yelled at the TV. But Paul just accepted you for who you are and just went with it. I don’t know how to do that, which is my problem not yours. And the anger, well, that’s there still too because I don’t know how to connect with you. I know it’s all in my head. And I know that it’s wrong. And I know you feel like it your fault, but it really isn’t. I don’t have any other interests other than cars, sports, and camping. I just don’t. I don’t like to solve puzzles, read books, or watch science shows. I like a few board games or card games. But I just don’t have a broad range of interests. You could have been a little science nerd and I wouldn’t have had any idea what to do with you, other than find some science camps to take you to or something. You could have been an artist and I wouldn’t have had any idea what to do with you, other that get you art lessons. I need to work on that or my marriage to Carole is going to suffer. She likes sports enough to sit and watch with me, but not enough to follow the teams or know anything about the stats. I have to change or I’ll lose her when Finn moves out. She might not actually leave me, but she’ll find other ways to spend her time than at home.”

“What did you and Mom do together?”

“I’m sorry, Kurt, but I can’t.”

He nodded. “So, you signed the papers giving Paul legal guardianship until I turn 18?”

“I did. I just want to make sure that you know that it’s not because I don’t want you or I don’t love you. But you’re not happy here. I can’t have you living where you don’t feel comfortable.”

“What are you going to tell Finn?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.”

“I thought about what happened while you were here. How did you asking me to leave you alone in your own room escalate to me grounding you for a whole week? I even made you miss ballet. I’m sorry about that. Somehow everything that upset me at all became this hill to die on over the last few months. The doctor said that was part of the side effects of the lowered blood flow to my brain, sort of making me go from aggravated to die-on-this-hill level of mad over something stupid. But I apologize anyway because it had to have been really hard on you. Not letting you go outside? It was ridiculous, but at the time it felt reasonable. Seeing that video of whoever it was in your room finally hit the trigger that made me realize that you were not just trying to get out of living here to spite me.”

Kurt reached into his pocket and pulled out his keyring. He removed the one that opened the bedroom door. “Where do you want me to put this?”

“The top drawer of my desk. There’s a small cubby that holds paperclips. Just put it in there with them.”

Kurt put the key in the desk and came back. “So, where does that leave us? Are you angry with me? Are you disappointed in me?”

“No. I’m angry with myself, not you. Not at all. You should be angry with me, but I know you aren’t because you were too young to realize that what I was doing was wrong and you see it as normal, so it doesn’t upset you like it should. And I’m definitely not disappointed in you. You’re an excellent student. You worked to be the best athlete you could be. You’re a kind-hearted person. You do your best at everything. Even me. You did your best to take care of me, but that’s not your job. Now, your job is to take care of yourself. Make your own way in the world. I know that you will feel torn, but this is what’s right. And I know that one thing I will definitely be doing is making sure I have check-ups on this artery thing. I’m not interested in revisiting the messed-up confusion or the headaches that I really just took painkillers to suppress. No more of that. I feel like I had someone clean the cobwebs out of my head rather than having an artery cleaned out.”

Kurt laughed. “On that note, I need to get going. I know that will leave you here alone for 15 minutes, but I think you’ll be fine.” He got up and put the chair back in the kitchen. He grabbed the remote and handed it to Burt. “You can find something to watch. I’m going to get to the shop.” I’ll come by after work tomorrow and check on you. Don’t let Finn eat your soup.”

“I won’t. I love you, kiddo. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay, Dad. I love you too. Stay there and rest.”

“I will.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt waited for Puck to get busy on the car he was changing the brakes on before he started to talk to him. “Do you like working the hours you have now or do you want to switch back to working two evenings and Saturdays like you were before?”

“Actually, this works a lot better for me. I don’t have to juggle my schoolwork. I’ve been doing it right after school at the public library and then I come straight here. It keeps me focused and on task. So, I’m fine leaving it like it is. Plus, when school ends, I’ll try to get a job working days somewhere again, and if keep these hours, it will just make more sense.”

“Alright.”

“How’s your dad doing?”

“He’s a lot better. Thanks for asking. He’s letting me stay at Paul’s. I’m not going to be living with them anymore. That’s why I asked about the hours.”

“What happened that you’re moving back so quick?”

“I can’t really say.”

“Finn.”

Kurt didn’t acknowledge Puck’s assumption. “Have you decided what you’re going to do once you turn 18? Are you going to finish out the summer here or go to Columbus right away? Are you going to finish high school here?”

“Right now, my plan is to stay at Paul’s until the end of the summer so I can keep whatever summer job I get and this job. What I haven’t decided is whether to finish school here or go ahead and move to Columbus. Once I’m 18, Nana and I can get a 2-bedroom place and she and Sarah can still share a room. All Nana does is sleep in there. There’s a bunk bed in the bedroom. I got them one of those full size futons on the bottom with a twin bed on top. So, Nana has a nice place to sleep, but when she gets up, Sarah helps her slide it up so it’s like a couch and it’s out of the way. The rest of the time it’s Sarah’s room and Nana hangs out in the living room. Nana can put as much toward the rent as she is now and I can pay the difference until I graduate from the 2-year program I’m going to apply for. Once I finish that, we’ll get a 3-bedroom place. Sarah will be 11, so it will be a good time for her to have her own room so she can start to have girly sleepovers and stuff. She can keep the bunk bed for that and I will get Nana a new full bed for her room.”

“You’ve been working hard on this plan.”

“Plan or fail, right? And failing isn’t an option.”

“What would keep you here for the school year?”

“I already have a part-time job here. I have a place to live. But I’m leaning towards going there. I’ll let you help me with a makeover if I do. I’d like to start over in a way. Move to a new school, not be the former bully. Just be me.”

“I think that sounds nice. I’ve often thought about what it would be like to walk into a new school and just be me. Maybe no one would like me anymore than I’m liked here. I don’t know. But it would be nice not to be seen as the formerly bullied loser. I know that the guys on the team value my football kicking skills, but that’s it. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to walk into a classroom and sit down and not have everyone stare at me. What would it be like when it came to divide into groups for a project to have people say ‘Come be in our group.’ instead of everyone looking the other way hoping that the teacher doesn’t assign me to their group.”

Puck switched sides of the car.

“I’ve always wondered what it would be like to go to one of those performing arts magnet schools I’ve heard about. Or actually any school where the students actually wanted to learn.”

“That’s the other upside of going to Columbus for next year. I could go to a better school and learn more. There are schools there with automotive classes half-days. So, I’d finish out Government, English, and another class half the day and then the other half I could work on things I need to know to make more money in a shop.”

“That sounds like a really good plan.”

“Thanks.”

“I’m going to get going.”

“Hey, thanks for always leaving me a plate of food for when I get home. I really appreciate that. You’re not usually downstairs for me to say anything.”

“Oh, you’re welcome. You know, you can come up and talk to us and play games with Dave. Usually I’m just working on schoolwork. Sometimes he is, but he gets most of his done while I’m here at work. Or you could just text him and he could come down and play in your room.”

“That’s possible too. That’s when I’ve been doing most of my planning.”

“Okay. I’m leaving the schedule as-is for now. I’ll see you at home, maybe.”

“See ya.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt walked into the dining room to find Paul and Dave sitting at the table waiting for him. “I’m sorry. I needed to talk to Puck about our schedules.”

“It’s fine, Kurt. Dinner is in the crockpot on warm,” Paul said.

“Is something wrong? Did something happen to my dad in the last three and a half hours?”

Paul smiled. “No. As far as I know, he’s fine. I didn’t mean to make you feel like something was wrong. Dave and I were just talking about some stuff and I was thinking.”

“He told me about signing the papers if that’s what the two of you were talking about.”

“It was. He said he was going to have a talk with you.”

“He did. It was weird, but good I guess. He seemed a lot more like himself than he has been in quite a while.”

Paul said, “He told me that the artery blockage had been causing problems that he hadn’t recognized, but that even with needing to recover from the surgery that he already felt better.”

Dave got up and started to put the stew he had made into bowls.

“I just want to make sure that this is what you want before I file them tomorrow morning.”

“I don’t want the stress of what’s been going on anymore. I don’t want to live there. I don’t want the court to somehow force me to, so yes it’s what I want. I love living here. I feel like this is my home. My dad seems better and maybe he’ll spend more time with me, maybe not, but either way, I’m glad he’s better. He said he’s going to try to get some help and that I should see someone too. I think my problems are just with him. I don’t mother hen you or Dave. But I’ll think about it.”

Dave brought in two bowls. Kurt got up to get the other one.

“Thank you to whoever made this. It looks good.”

Paul said, “You’re welcome. I’m glad you’re happy here and I’m glad it will all be settled. We love having you here. Dave and I were talking about college as well. He was telling me about the place he liked the most when we were in New York.”

Kurt perked up a lot when the topic changed to New York. They all talked and ate. After they finished, Dave brought down Uno and they played for a while. Kurt had managed to get his math problems sitting with Burt at the hospital earlier in the day since Dave texted him which problems to do. They were still sitting there playing when Puck came in.

He warmed his food up in the microwave and sat down at the table with them to eat. They dealt him in the next round.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“So, what do you think?” Kurt asked.

“I like it. We’ll have to get another chair. Or we can go out to Goodwill this weekend and look for two that match and we can restain them to match. Maybe we can find ones with padded seats like the chair Quinn has.”

“That sounds like fun. I like working on projects with you.” He leaned forward and kissed Dave. “Once we have two chairs, we can both work on written stuff at the same time with the drop leaf up.”

“Yep. And when we get our own place, we can put both leaves up and use it for a dining table.”

“I like it when you talk about us getting a place together.”

“I like thinking about it. I don’t mind living with Dad. But I know eventually, he and Judy will get married and we’ll move out and get our own place. I don’t know that they’ll keep this big house. I’ve wondered if they’ll move into Judy’s place since their expenses would be so much lower. Having two kids in college would make keeping both houses a huge unneeded expense.”

“Maybe they’ll just buy a different place, more like the one my Dad and Carole got – one with a nice large master suite and two smaller bedrooms for us to visit them. Judy’s house only has two bedrooms. We’d end up having to sleep in the living room. It wouldn’t be awful, I guess, but it would completely lack privacy.”

“Maybe they will. Who knows? Shower time?”

“Mmm. Sounds good. And then snuggles and we’ll talk more.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When they came back from Findlay Saturday, Kurt was shocked when they walked in from the garage through the studio to find that the piano was back. Kurt went to find Paul.

“He sent the piano back?”

“It’s yours to keep.”

“It might need tuned again after being moved twice.”

“Already set up. The tuner will be here at 2:00.”

“Thank you.” Kurt went flying out of the room and back into the studio. “Dave?”

He wasn’t there. He went back the other direction and found him in the kitchen getting a drink. “It’s back to stay with me forever. It’s mine now. And the tuner will be here at 2:00.”

“That’s great.”

“I know. I’m so excited.”

“I’d have never guessed. You’re so low-key about it.”

“Hush, you.” Kurt pecked him on the lips. “My piano is back. I’ll play for you as soon as the tuner leaves.”

“I’ve missed listening to you play.”

“Lunch?”

“Sure. Leftover extravaganza?”

“Exactly what I was thinking.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Puck came in Sunday evening and went into the studio to play his guitar for a while and found that the piano was back. He sat down at the piano instead and started to play. Kurt was in the kitchen getting the dessert they had been too full to eat at dinner. He stepped into the studio.

“Sounds good.”

“Oh, hey, Kurt.”

“I made a cake. It’s on the counter. Help yourself.”

“Thanks. I’m glad you got your piano back. I never really realized how much I enjoyed playing until I moved in here and had access to playing yours.”

Kurt put the plate with the cake slices on the back of the piano and sat down next to Puck on the piano bench. “You’re really talented. I wish I could sit down and play by ear as well as you do. I can, but it’s more of combination of years of piano lessons and years of training myself to do it. You just have this ease about doing it that I will never have. And I can’t play something just the way the original is, like you can. It’s like people who have a photographic memory except yours is musical.”

“I have it for more than just music. I just don’t advertise. But that’s one reason why I used to skip doing my homework. I already heard the teacher explain it. I didn’t need to sit and practice it. I would make A’s and B’s on the tests without putting effort into it. But I didn’t do the written homework or papers. Last fall, Paul explained the importance of doing the homework and I started doing it. So, now I make all A’s. I’m not sure whether I ever thanked you for assigning me to him at that first campout. If I had to look back and identify one thing that made a huge difference for me, that would be it. He was the first adult who actually took the time to talk to me like I was an intelligent person who had made some bad choices instead of a stupid kid who was barely worth their time.”

“I’ll be honest. I did that on purpose. You had apologized to me not long before that and told me that you had picked on me partially because you were jealous. I had already spent time with him from being over here with Dave. I thought he would be a good match for you. I’m glad it worked out.”

“I think the most surprising thing has been what a completely normal person you are. I don’t mean that to sound like backhanded compliment. I just didn’t know anything about gay guys. Honestly, Mr. Ryerson was the extent of my experience with gay guys. And you were into fashion and music and I’m guessing he is into fashion since he dresses so unusual compared to other adult men around here. I don’t really know. I just, he was so predatory acting – like he was always leering at the hot guys and I think it just gave all gay guys this bad rep.”

“That makes me wonder about the rest of the guys at school. I wonder if a lot of their perceptions of gay men have been warped by Mr. Ryerson’s inappropriate leering.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me. I’ve heard rumors of more than leering. Inappropriate touching, not THERE, but touching that made the people touched feel uncomfortable probably because it was paired with his inappropriate leering.”

“I wasn’t in choir then. I think Rachel is the only one in Glee that sang when Mr. Ryerson was the director. He makes me tense honestly. I can see why other people wouldn’t want to be around him, especially if he looked at other guys they way he looked at me. I always just figured that he acted that way because he knew I was gay, but obviously not.”

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t have even considering join the choir back then. I was really screwed up then. I had my looks and that’s all I felt like I had going for me at the time. Well, that and my badass reputation.”

“Well, that’s in the past. I’m glad we’re friends now.”

“I guess we ARE friends, huh? The badass and the princess?”

Kurt slid to the side unexpectedly and shoved Puck off the end of the piano bench. “Call me that again if you want me to kick your ass.”

“Ouch. Fine.” He got up and sat back down on the other side of the piano bench. “The badass and the smartass.”

“That’s better.”

Dave came into the room. “The badass and the smartass? Where do I fit in?”

Kurt got up and walked over to him. “You’re the smartass’ handsome boyfriend?”

“Hmm. Nope. That pretty much makes me the sidekick.”

“Muscleman,” Kurt suggested.

“Better than a sidekick name. Did you tell Mr. Badass there about your plan?”

“Ooh. No, I didn’t. So much has been a mess lately. Anyway, I want to take Sam, Stevie, Stacey, Quinn, Brittany, and Lexi to Columbus one weekend and meet up with you, Sarah, and Carlos and do something fun.”

“What about Santana?”

“Well, if she can participate and have fun, not be sarcastic or outright mean to any of the 8 year olds, then she’s welcome too, although we will have to take a second vehicle. The idea was to have fun with the kids. If Santana actually wants to do that, it’s fine. But honestly, she tends to send Lexi away, so I don’t know.”

“You’re right. She’s not big on spending time with little kids. The idea is fine with me. Where were you thinking? Sarah’s been pestering me to take her to the zoo because she heard some of the kids at school talking about it. It’s kind of pricey, but I could spring for it. Carlos’ mom would pay for him.”

“We went last year – the day after we all went shopping. It was great. The kids would love it. We loved it.”

“It’s a go from me. Just let me know a date as soon as possible so I can tell Carlos’ mom.”

“I’ll do that.” He grabbed the plate off the top of the piano. “We just need the milk. I got distracted when I heard Puck playing.”

“I’ll grab the milk. Have some cake. It’s on the counter,” Dave said as he left to get the milk.

“I’ll do that,” Puck said. He went back to playing.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“I’m sorry. I know Sunday evenings are supposed to be just our time. He’s hardly ever here when I am and I really want to do something fun with all the kids, especially with it looking like Sam’s family might be moving. I think we’ll have to pay for Stevie and Stacey to go. I don’t think they can afford it.”

“That’s fine. And I’m not upset about you talking to Puck. I just wondered why you had been gone so long.” He took the last bite of his cake and washed it down with the last of his milk. “We are good bakers if I do say so myself.”

“I agree.” Kurt finished his off as well. “I’m going to look at my calendar really quick.”

“I’ll rinse these and we can just take them down in the morning.” Dave took the dishes into the bathroom.

“How about May 1st? That’s two weeks from today? We can reschedule our Sunday evening time for Saturday instead of Sunday? Puck and I can’t go on Saturday mornings. So, it’s Sunday or only get a few hours there, which is a waste given the cost of tickets.”

“Sure. We’ll have our Sunday evening time on Saturday that week. Go ahead and text everyone and see if they’re all actually interested.” He sat down on the futon and put his feet up.

Kurt got his phone out and sent Brittany, Quinn, Sam, and Puck a text. “Okay, now where were we?”

“I think I was going to toss you in bed and tickle you, but I think we’ll have to wait a little for that since we just ate.”

Kurt walked over to the futon and sat down straddling Dave’s lap. “In that case, how about we go back to the kissing?” He leaned forward and kissed Dave, pressing in and running his hands down Dave’s shoulders and stopping to admire Dave’s arms with his fingers.

Dave moaned, “Mmm hmm” as his answer and wrapped his arms around Kurt.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday morning in Glee, both Santana and Tina approached Kurt right after he sat down.

“Why wasn’t I invited to go to the zoo?” Santana asked.

“That’s what I was going to ask,” Tina said.

Kurt smiled, and then shook his head and rolled his eyes. “I invited people with little brothers or sisters. I wanted to do something fun with Sarah again and I know she misses Lexi, so I invited Brittany. And Stevie and Stacey are in Lexi’s class and I thought Sam could bring them. If you two want to go and hang out with 8 year olds all day, then you’re more than welcome to come, but the trip is about them, not about doing teenage things. All of us can go to Columbus or Toledo or something for the day together, just us and not the little kids, if you want to do that one day. But the day I’m planning at the zoo is definite a 3rd grader day.”

“Alright,” Santana said. “I get it. I’m not a huge fan of little kids. I’ll think about it. A day with all of us sounds pretty fun though. How about Cedar Point?”

“Get ticket prices and find out when they open for the season,” Kurt said.

She nodded and went back to sit by Brittany.

“Sorry I jumped on you. I felt left out when I heard Brittany talking about it. I’ve missed our double or triple or quadruple dates, or whatever they are, the last few weeks. I was jealous that you didn’t invite me to something.”

“The only person I invited who doesn’t have an 8 year old sibling is Quinn and that’s because Sam’s little sister Stacey loves her.”

“How does she even know Quinn?”

“Quinn babysits them sometimes.”

“Ah. The old money-making fallback job for teens.”

Kurt didn’t say anything because he knew that Quinn did it for free, but he just let it slide. “So, if you’re interested in spending the day with five 3rd graders, let me know.”

“I think I’ll help Santana with the theme park ideas.”

Kurt smiled. “Sure.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The following Saturday after ballet, Dave, Kurt and Quinn headed towards the outlet mall from Findlay. They stopped all of the thrift and second-hand shops along the way.

“Which of these do you like better?” Dave asked. “Sit down and try them out.”

Kurt sat in both chairs. “I like the one with the trapezoidal seats. They’re big enough for me to sit criss-cross in.”

Dave laughed. “I liked those better too, but just because the seats were larger for my big butt.”

Kurt stepped closer and spoke where only Dave could hear. “I think you meant sexy not big.”

Dave laughed. “If you say so.”

“I do. And I like that chair. Did you find anything else back here?”

“I like this book shelf thing.” He pointed to a slightly angled single shelf for books sitting on a shelf. “It’s sort of weird, but I like it.”

“Let’s grab it. It looks useful. It can go on the table against the wall and we can keep our textbooks in it. The angle keeps them from falling over when the shelf isn’t full.”

Kurt picked up one of the chairs. Dave grabbed the other one and the wood bookshelf piece as well. They walked the chairs to the front and Dave stayed in line with them while Kurt went to look for Quinn.

“Quinn?”

“In the dressing room.”

“Did you find something?”

She opened the door. “What do you think? It’s a little loose through the top. Do you think you could take it up?”

“Put your arms out like you’re a scarecrow and turn.” He stepped closer and examined it. “Now, just put your arms normal and turn.” He looked at the section under the arms. “I can fix it so it will fit you and it looks really good on you.”

“I’m getting it then. I love the colors.”

“Dave’s in line already. We’ll meet you at the front, unless there’s something else for me to see.”

“Just one more.”

“Okay.” He waited a couple of minutes.

“What about this one? It fits through the top, but it’s a little longer than I like to wear my dresses. Could you hem it right above the knee?”

“Sure.”

“Thank you. I’ll be up front as soon as I change back. Oh, wait.”

He stopped.

She slipped some strappy sandals that came up around the ankles on. “What about these?”

“I love them. They match your bag and they’ll go with just about everything and I love the 80’s look.”

“I like them a lot. I’m wearing them as soon as I pay for them. I’ll be right up as soon as I change.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They had all three gone through their closets during the week. Only Kurt had any significant amount of things to sell or donate, if they weren’t selected. Dave had a few things that he realized that he just never wore and Quinn didn’t have anything. They looked around the resale shop while the items they brought in were being considered.

Kurt walked up to where Quinn was. “Wow, it looks like you’ve hit the jackpot.”

“Yeah, they have a whole bunch of the bike shorts I wear under my dresses. I’m going to try them on, but I’m getting all of them if they fit. I think I’ll have to get the rest of the leggings I want at the mall. I need another short-sleeved cardigan or shrug. Mine met a sad fate when I accidentally shut it in my car door. There was no hope for it.”

“I can imagine. I came to tell you that they’re done with my stuff. I didn’t have that much this time.”

“Alright. I’ll try these on and be right up to buy the ones that fit.”

Kurt went up front. “Oh, those are nice.”

Dave said, “I think they’re brand new. Someone must have gotten them as a gift and not liked them. My running shoes aren’t completely dead, but I’m getting these anyway. They’re comfortable and they’re $40 cheaper than buying new ones somewhere else.”

They got in line. Kurt saw Quinn put one pair of shorts back on the rack to be restocked. She got in line a few people back.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“So, where to for lunch, my dear?” Kurt asked. “I’m starving. We should have eaten two hours ago.”

“I want to go to that pizza place that we saw by the North Face store. We had already eaten when I saw it last time, but it smelled so good.”

“We can do that.” Kurt drove past the restaurants along the highway and headed straight to the outlet mall.

They went inside and got in line.

Quinn said, “I want to try a ‘My Big Fat Greek Pizza’, but I can’t eat a whole one myself.”

Dave said, “Ooh. I’m getting the ‘Chicken Bianca’? That’s completely different.”

“Let’s get both and split them three ways,” Kurt suggested.

They watched their pizzas be assembled, put into an oven, and come out less than three minutes later.

“That was fast,” Dave said.

The guy sliding their pizzas onto the serving tray said, “It is fast when you bake them at 600 degrees.”

“I’d say so,” Dave responded. He paid with the money Paul had given him to buy their lunch.

They filled their cups and sat down to eat. They were all pleased with their unusual pizza choices.

“So, the leggings store. And Quinn needs a new shrug or short-sleeved cardigan. What else?”

“I need some shorts that aren’t basketball shorts. Some that I can wear with regular shirts.”

“Anything else?”

“I need new socks,” Quinn said.

“Me too,” Dave agreed.

“Alright.”

They finished eating and set out on their hunt.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sunday morning Kurt woke up before Dave. He tried to slip out of bed, but failed spectacularly when his foot got caught in the sheet and he about fell out of bed.

“Where are you trying to sneak off to?” Dave asked.

“I was going to finish up that French reading I have so that I’ll be able relax when we’re out at the lake. I want to work on the chairs with you like we decided last night too.”

“Alright. How about a kiss first? And then you read and I’ll go see if the chairs are ready to sand and I make us something to eat?”

“Deal.” Kurt kissed him, got out of bed, picked up his French book, and then sat down on the futon and started to read.

A half-hour later, Dave came back upstairs with a grilled egg and cheese sandwich and a glass of grape juice and gave it to Kurt.

“Thanks. I just finished.” He sat the grape juice on the end shelf and ate.

Dave went in the bathroom and shaved before he got dressed. “I’d wear a pair of my new shorts if we weren’t going to the lake, but it’s pretty breezy out. I’m going with pants and a hoodie.”

“Will you grab my hiking jeans and one of the New York hoodies?”

Dave grabbed them and put them on the bed. He pulled his wine colored hoodie over his head. Kurt frowned.

“You don’t like this hoodie?”

“I do. But I liked the short-sleeved shirt you were wearing yesterday better.”

Dave laughed. “You’re adorable.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “That may be true, but don’t you want to wear sweats and a work t-shirt down to sand and stain those chairs with me?”

“Right.” He took the hoodie off and put the jeans he was wearing on the bed with it. He put sweats and a work t-shirt on.

Kurt put his plate on the side table, drank the glass of juice, and went into the bathroom to wash his hands and brush his teeth. He came out and got dressed in sweats too. “Quinn and I are going to get haircuts Tuesday after I get off. I think I might get highlights put in mine. You’ll be surprised to see the style Quinn has chosen.”

“Highlights, lowlights, headlights, taillights, Dave teased.

“Now that would be something.” He turned around and wiggled his tush for Dave to see. “Taillights? He looked over his shoulder and wiggled his tush more.”

“You’re crazy.”

“I know.”

Dave stepped in front of him and reached around behind him and grabbed his butt. “Why must you torture me with showing off your sexy ass when we’re supposed to be going down and working on those chairs?”

“Maybe so you’d do exactly this.” Kurt slid his hands up Dave’s sleeves and ran his fingers along the muscles in Dave’s arms. He kissed him. “Come on. Let’s get down to the garage before I push you back onto the bed.”

“I like your bed idea.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Two and a half hours later, the two of them were in the shower cleaning off all of the mess from the sanding and staining they had done.

“Even with our late start, we managed to get them sanded and the first coat of stain on,” Kurt said.

“Mmm hmm. And as soon as I get all of this gunk off of me, I’d like to repeat what made us get a late start, unless you object.”

“No objections from me.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Tina drove Artie to the lake. Mercedes brought Azimio over as soon as they got out of church. The two of them changed while Quinn, Kurt, and Dave packed the Navigator. They stopped by Sam’s place and picked him up on the way to the lake. Judy went with Paul.

When they got there, everyone helped get things setup quickly. They all sat down and started passing the food around. They ate and repacked anything that could spoil in one of the coolers with ice. Azimio and Dave carried the other cooler with the drinks onto the boat. They put everything else back in the Navigator. Tina put Artie’s wheelchair back in her car, while Azimio and Dave loaded him on to the boat. Everyone else got on and they headed out onto the lake.

Paul got the boat out into the open water. “Hey, Artie?”

“Yeah?”

“You want to learn to drive the boat? Boats don’t have controls on the floor – just hand controls.”

His eyes lit up. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, seriously.” He turned around. “Dave?”

“What?”

“Will you move Artie to the captain’s chair? I’m going to teach him to drive the boat. Then I’m going to relax while he does the work.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Ten minutes later, Artie looked like he’d won the lottery and Paul and Judy were sitting in the seats on the back that were used for fishing. He drove them all around the lake all afternoon.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Tuesday evening Kurt and Quinn went to Quinn’s place to have dinner with Dave, Paul, and Judy. Kurt used Quinn’s key and opened the door, but didn’t step in. He gave her the keys back. He said, “Everyone close your eyes.”

They got three “okay”s as replies.

They stepped inside. Kurt helped Dave move to the living room from the kitchen.

Once all three of them were together, Quinn said, “Open your eyes.”

Judy said, “Quinn, you cut your hair short. It’s so mature looking. I love it.”

Dave said, “You went with the highlights, but their kind of reddish.”

“It’s called chestnut.”

“I like it. When I thought of highlights, my mind automatically went to blond and I couldn’t figure out how that would look good, but I was reserving judgment because I couldn’t imagine you choosing anything that didn’t look good.” He moved closer. “I like it. I like it spiked up too.”

“I thought it would be more fun for the summer. I had it about this length at the beginning of football, but I’ve wanted to try the highlights for ages and I really like them.”

Judy said, “It looks very hip, trendy, cool,” she laughed. “Whatever the right word for it is these days.”

“Thank you.”

She said, “Dinner’s done. We’re having fajitas.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Wednesday morning in Glee, Mr. Schue said, “We’ve been working hard on perfecting our three songs for Nationals and I’ve decided to take a break from rehearsal today and Friday. We’re going to do a fun project. You all have changed so much in the two years that we’ve been together that I want you to think about something that you used to dislike about yourself that you’ve learned to accept or something that you kept secret from other people for fear of being made fun of that now you share openly or something you used to be ashamed about but aren’t anymore.”

“Why’s Miss Pillsbury here?” Santana asked.

“She’s going to help us.”

Miss Pillsbury opened the cardigan she was wearing. Underneath it she was wearing a white fitted t-shirt that said ‘OCD’ in block letters. She took a deep breath. “Having OCD is stigmatized by society. We’re considered neat freaks or crazy because we can’t let something go. It’s a difficult illness to deal with because there is no cure. I started to go to counseling and to take some medication for anxiety, which has helped because I panic less when things trigger my OCD. But I used to try to hide it because I felt like it was my fault and I was ashamed that I couldn’t just will myself to stop feeling the way I did. But I’ve come to terms with the fact that it is part of who I am and that I decided that I will live my best life with it rather than continually trying to fight it. That’s where the counseling helped. I have this compulsive tendency to check the stove every time I leave the house and I will panic that I didn’t do it. My counselor suggested that I take a photo with my phone when I check it on the way out the door. That way when I get in the car and panic 10 minutes later, I can look at my phone and see that I did actually do it and I will be able to relax about it. She has helped me find ways to go on with my life when I used to have to turn around and drive home to check again.”

Tina said, “That’s actually really cool. I don’t mean it’s cool that you panic, but it’s cool that she gave you a way to stop the panic when it happens.”

“It’s life-changing, really. She’s been very helpful. If you ever wonder why my iron is in the backseat of my car, that was her idea as well. If it’s in my backseat, it is definitely not setting the ironing board on fire in my apartment.” She smiled nervously.

“Those are very helpful ideas,” Rachel said. She still sounded a bit funny from the swelling and tape on her nose from where Finn had broken it the week before.

Kurt smiled and thought back to Puck coming up with the idea for the Barbravention and Rachel giving up her quest for a new nose.

Mr. Schue said, “So think of what you want to put on your shirts, but don’t tell anyone. Take out a sheet of paper, write what you want it to say, and put your initials at the top of the page, so Miss Pillsbury knows which t-shirt to put what you’ve written on. Keep it is brief as possible.”

They all took out notebooks and sat and thought. Eventually they all put something on their papers and gave them to Miss Pillsbury.

“Alright. So, Friday morning she’ll have these ready for us and we’ll wear them while we perform for ourselves.” He handed out music. “This is what we’re going to be singing.”


	29. Chapter 29

Wednesday after school, Kurt stopped to talk to Burt on the way to the bay area.

“How are you feeling?”

“Much better. My neck is barely bothering me and my brain seems to be working again.  I know I already apologized, but I’m really sorry. I’m not sorry we got the new house.  It’s going to be a much better fit for us as we get older, or like when one of us is injured. It’s been so much more relaxing being able to just rest in bed than it was the last time having to stay downstairs and not be able to get to the bed.  And I like having the family room and the living room.  I’m not going to ask you to move back.  I know that’s not going to work, at least for a while.  You’re going to move on with your life away from Lima soon anyway, but you’ll have a place to stay if you come visit.  And Carole can use the room if she has relatives come stay at some point in time.  We’re looking at getting a full or queen size bed to put in there instead though, so if you hear of anyone wanting to buy a bed, let me know.”

“Ask Puck.  He’s going to need one when he moves to Columbus.  He might be interested.  If you’re going to put a bigger bed in there, I can install some lighting to the sides so that the headboard won’t look out of place.”

“Sure.  I’ll ask Puck about the bed.  How’s school?”

“Same old, same old. Teachers talk, assign work, collect it, and give us tests.  I’m still making all A’s.”

“That’s good. Carole asked me to ask you if you’d have lunch or dinner with her sometime soon.”

“Sure.  Just have her text me.”

“Alright.  Go ahead and get to work.”

“I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

“Me too.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Friday morning everyone met in the auditorium and got their shirts from Miss Pillsbury, who had folded them neatly with the lettering to the inside.  They went into the dressing rooms to put them on, and put jackets over the top.  They moved to the wings and got ready to start their performance. 

Kurt entered the stage with the curtain down and started the doing the spoken word intro.

_It doesn’t matter if you love him or capital HIM because you were born this way, baby._

Tina entered from stage right and Mercedes from stage left.  They approached Kurt in the center and dramatically opened his red buffalo checked jacket to reveal his white t-shirt that said LIKES BOYS.

Tina sang the first verse and the three of them were joined on stage by Dave and Azimio.  When the chorus started some of them who were off-stage pulled the curtains back, and then the rest of the group joined the first five on the stage.

Kurt moved back to the front and began the next spoken word section and removed his jacket and threw it off the front of the stage.  The rest of the guys followed his lead and threw their jackets off.  They moved back, and as Kurt continued, the girls moved forward and threw their jackets off the front of the stage as well.

They did the choreography for the chorus that they had come up with on Wednesday.  When it ended they all formed a circle again and looked at each other’s shirts.

Kurt – LIKES BOYS

Tina – ASIAN EYES

Mike – DREAMER

Dave – GAY

Puck – NEVER ENOUGH

Finn – NO DAD

Artie – CAN’T DANCE

Quinn – NOT PERFECT

Mercedes – TOO CURVY

Azimio – BABY Z

Rachel – NOSE

Santana – NOT GIRLY

Brittany – TALKS TO CATS

Sam – DYSLEXIA

Mr. Schuester – CURLS

“Does anyone want to talk about their shirt?” Mr. Schue asked.

Rachel said, “Can I ask you a question, Santana?”

“Sure, I guess.”

“I don’t understand yours.  You’re one of the most beautiful girls in this school and all of the boys think so.  Why did you choose what’s on your shirt?”

“I have three brothers, all older, like they all moved out by the time I started high school.  But growing up, I was always trying to be like them.  They taught me to play basketball and baseball and soccer.  I loved it.  But my dad was always like, ‘Santana, you’re a girl, you shouldn’t play with the boys.  Santana, don’t you want to wear a pretty dress like your cousin Marielena? Santana, sit like a little lady.’ He was always on me for how unladylike I was.  So, in junior high, mostly to spite him, I started dressing provocatively.  And when he would complain, I would smart back with ‘At least I look like a girl now, right?’  But now it’s such a part of who am I, that I don’t even look like me when I look at myself in the mirror unless I’m made up and in a short dress or skirt. So, I didn’t really know how to express all of that in a short phrase that would fit on a shirt.  It’s something I still struggle with because I’m this fabulous, very feminine person now.  And I found that it brings me a lot of power that I don’t have if I dress the way I actually like.  So, it’s a constant struggle.”

Rachel nodded.

Puck said, “I don’t get yours, Azimio.”

“My answer is kind of like Santana’s.  I have older brothers.  My youngest older brother is 12 years older than me.  So, growing up, I was the baby.  I couldn’t play or do whatever they were doing because I was the baby.  ‘Baby Z’ they called me.  I let Dave call me ‘Z’ ‘cause they did.  Only he never called me ‘Baby’ ‘cause we’re the same age.  And if any of you do, I won’t speak to you anymore. This better stay between us in this group.”

Puck nodded.  “I feel the same way.  This is one of those trust exercises.  What we put on our shirts better stay in this group, unless someone says different about their own shirt.”

Mike spoke up. “I’ll say something about mine. My father is a very realistic, logical person.  He expects me to have concrete plans for my future.  In his world, Glee and football only exist to pad my CV as extra-curriculars so I can get into a good college.  Dancing is a form of exercise that is useful like martial arts or football training, but that’s it.  I know that I don’t spend much time with you all outside of this club. I just thought knowing a little about me might help you understand why.  I’m allowed a certain amount of recreational time.  I stay home and play games with you all online because if I drive to where you are, I use part of my time going and coming and I’m left with less time to actually relax.  On top of the schoolwork I do, I also complete a Chinese curriculum at home that my mother oversees.”

“That’s intense,” Puck said.

Mike shrugged. “It’s the only life I’ve known.”

Kurt said, “So Coach Sylvester teasing you about your hair is nothing new, then Mr. Schue?”

“Not at all.  I think what most of you don’t realize is that she became the cheerleading coach here in 1986.  You all know that Terri and I went to high school here. We started high school in 1990. Coach Sylvester and I have known each other since I was 14 years old.  She wasn’t any nicer to the Glee Club members back in 1990 than she is now.”

Santana spoke up. “I knew both of those things and never put them together.  She’s been harassing you about your hair for over 20 years.”

“And lots of people teased me before she did.  It’s super curly.  Anyway, what she says doesn’t bother me anymore.  And I hope with time, the things that have defined you or that were used against you don’t bother you anymore either.  You’ve all already grown so much over the last two years. A lot of you have just one year left of high school and then you’ll be moving on.  Maybe some of you will move this next year and we won’t see you again.  None of us knows the future.  No one expected Matt to just be gone.  I’m sure Sam didn’t expect to be here this year.  I want you all to know that I’m proud of how hard you’ve worked. We’re going to Nationals.  Whether we win or not, making it to Nationals is a big accomplishment.”

The warning bell for first period rang.

“Get changed.  You did great.  Leave the t-shirts, or take them if you want, but don’t be late. We’ll talk about our trip next week.” 

Everyone rushed to the dressing rooms to put their regular shirts back on.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When Kurt got home from work that evening, Quinn and Judy were sitting at the dining table while Paul and Dave were in the kitchen cooking.  Kurt went in the half-bath and washed his hands again and sat down at the table.

“So who all is going to the zoo on Sunday,” Judy asked.

Kurt answered, “Me, Dave, Sam, Stacey, Stevie, Brittany, Lexi, Quinn, Puck, Sarah, and Carlos.”

“Lexi is Brittany’s little sister, and Sarah is Puck’s little sister. Who is Carlos?”

“He’s Sarah’s best friend.”

“Ah.”

“Sarah goes to his house after school a couple of days a week to give her something fun to do since she lives with their nana who doesn’t have a car.  Carlos’ mom brings Sarah back.  And on the weekends Carlos goes over and plays with Sarah for a few hours, giving his mom a chance to run errands and have some time with her husband.  It works out well for all of them.”

Judy said, “That’s nice.  It’s hard to find people who really care and get involved in other people’s lives and help out.”

“The other unusual part about it for me and Dave is that Carlos’ mom, Mrs. Garcia, is pretty sure that Carlos is gay and she knows that Mr. Garcia’s family will not be supportive, but she specifically asked us to behave like a normal couple – not to hide that we were boyfriends.  She wants him to see that it’s okay to be who he is and that he can be happy and gay.  Even though he’s not unhappy now, she wants him to have seen that boys can have boyfriends and that it’s fine and normal.  I had to fight back tears when she talked to me.  I have never had an adult ask me to be myself.  I’ve had plenty of people tell me to not be who I am.  It was just a really amazing feeling.  I’m glad he has a great mom and dad.”  He turned to the kitchen.  “What are you two whipping up in there?  It smells good.”

“It will be right out. It’s been cooling a bit since you got here.”  Dave came out with four hot pads and came back with a pan of regular lasagna.

Paul followed him in with a chicken and spinach lasagna with a cream sauce.  Dave came back with a stack of plates.  Paul brought two serving spatulas.  Kurt got up and grabbed silverware and napkins. Dave and Paul came back with drinks.

“Wow,” Judy said. “What did three of us do to deserve the royalty treatment?  This looks fabulous.”

Paul looked at her and rolled his eyes.  “You don’t have to do anything.  You know we love all three of you.”

Quinn started to cry and got up from the table and went into the half-bath just outside the dining room in the foyer.

Judy started to get up, but Paul shook his head.  He got up and went out in the foyer and knocked gently on the door. “Quinn, honey, are you okay?”

She opened the door. She had a few tissues in her hand and she had wiped her eyes, but she still had streams of tears flowing down her cheeks.  “Did you mean that or were you just saying it to be funny or something?”

“I meant it, Quinn. Your mom and I have been together for almost a year and a half.  You’ve become a daughter to me.  Does that upset you?”

“Not in the way that you’re probably thinking.”  She began to bawl.

Judy got up and went to her.  “Oh, sweetie.” She pulled her into a hug. “It’s okay.  Surely, you know he’s not making it up.  Think about how he treats the two of us.”

She nodded.  She wiped her eyes again.  “Give me a minute, okay?”

“Sure,” Judy said. 

They went back and sat down and started to serve the lasagna. 

A few minutes later, Quinn came back and sat down.  “So, in Glee we had to make a t-shirt that had something on it that we’ve struggled with or had to overcome.  And we did this song called ‘Born this Way’.  And on mine I put ‘not perfect’ because I felt like I had to be perfect in order for you and daddy to love me.  And when I told you two I was pregnant, I was actually surprised that you supported me because I thought you’d side with him.  You never really stood up for me or Frannie, but after you left him and you had been spending time with Paul, I realized that you were as afraid of not being perfect as we were.  You were afraid that he would leave you if you weren’t perfect.  You tried to build us up when he wasn’t around.  You didn’t contradict him because you didn’t want him to end up with us if he divorced you.  Anyway, thinking about that the last couple of days since I decided what to put on my t-shirt brought back a lot of memories.  Mr. Schue was talking to us about how much all of us had changed in the two years of Glee.  And it just made me thing about a lot of things.  How much I’ve changed.  How much you’ve changed – for the better.  I look around the table and I can think of a lot of bad things that happened to all of us in the last two years, but I also see how much my mom and I have changed.  I didn’t know the three of you back then, but I have to think that you’ve changed too – all of us for the better, I think.”

Dave said, “I have changed.  I’m not afraid of who I am anymore.  I don’t hate myself for not being able to change that part of myself.  My dad and I are a lot closer than we were before.  I kept my distance before because it’s hard to keep people from noticing that you’re hiding something from them if you let them too close.”

“I’ve changed too,” Paul said.  “My changes have been a lot more in behavior.  I’ve learned to run a household and how to cook.  I’ve learned to be more nurturing and caring.  More invested, I guess is a good word for it. Instead of just taking Dave’s answer of ‘fine’ about school or something, I asked better questions and then really began to listen to the answers.”

“I learned to let people in.  That really changed everything for me.  Dave opening up to me and me not feeling so alone made a really big difference.  And Paul accepting me and us.  And letting me live here.  I mean honestly, if some palm reader or fortune teller had told me two years ago that Dave and Quinn would be my best friends and I’d be living with Paul, I would have laughed myself out of my chair and called them crazy.”

“That’s because freshman Quinn was a grade A bitch who thought the only way to acceptance was by intimidating everyone into submission with my perfection.”

“And the new Quinn?” Kurt asked.

“Knows that perfection is unattainable, but people can love you with your imperfections.”

Kurt smiled at her.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After they finished dinner, Quinn followed Dave and Kurt up to their room.  She walked around looking at things.  “These shelves and this table are new.”

“The shelves aren’t really new, but the table is fairly new, like since Kurt moved back in.”

“Why do you have a picture of Miss Lizzie?”

“How do you know her?”

“Wait, is this a picture of you with Miss Lizzie?”

“Yes, but you didn’t answer my question.”

“Oh, she was the children’s librarian.  She ran story time and craft days.  But if that’s a picture of you, then we were friends when we were little. We used to play together all the time at the library events.”

“I only ever played with a little girl named Lucy with brown hair that she always had in two braids with little bows on the ends.”

Quinn pulled one of the chairs out and plopped down in it and pulled her feet up and sat criss-cross.  “That’s me.  My first name is Lucy, but the summer before I started middle school, I asked my parents to call me Quinn and to tell the middle school that I went by Quinn.  I got my mom to let me dye my hair blonde like she did.  I gave myself a new personality and style. I switched to a different dance school and took modern dance as well as ballet that summer.  I tried out for cheerleading and made it.  That was when cheerleader Quinn was born. The few people I knew from elementary school didn’t recognize me with my new outgoing HBIC attitude and new hair color in a cheerleading outfit, especially when I ignored the two that did recognize me, telling them that I wasn’t Lucy.”

“Wow.  That’s harsh,” Kurt said.

“I know.  I didn’t say that I was proud of what I did, but I did it for the very reasons I was talking about downstairs.  My mom and sister were both outgoing cheerleaders and they were both Junior and Senior Prom Queens.  After seventh grade, my dad let me get a nose job. My dad was finally proud of me after my transformation.  He wasn’t proud of little mousy brown-haired, timid, bookworm Lucy. But he was proud of outgoing, blonde cheerleader Quinn.  I grew up in such a weird subculture – I guess is a reasonable word.  That motto I made up for Celibacy Club – It’s all about the teasing and not about the pleasing – that sums up how I had been raised.  I was supposed to appeal to boys, make everything about myself appealing to boys, make boys want me, but never, ever let a boy have me.  My worth as a person was tied to my ability to present myself as a perfect specimen.  Beautiful, smart, but not smarter than my future husband, and a leader, but yet submissive to my future husband.  Men were right.  Men held the power.  Men wanted eye candy.  Men could have their fantasies.  Marrying the right man was of absolute importance and being a virgin when that happened was one of the requirements.  My dad was so proud because I was a shoo-in for Princess of the Chastity Ball the fall of sophomore year.  I already had a beautiful white dress and everything.  Dating Finn was acceptable once I turned 15 because Finn was the quarterback.  He had social standing, which is the only form of prestige and power a 15 year old guy can actually have.  And his mother wasn’t single because she was divorced.  His mother was single because his dad had died in service to our country.  She was a war widow, not a divorcee.  After he and I won Junior and Senior Prom King and Queen, my dad would have decided whether I could continue to date him past high school.  He would have determined Finn’s potential value as a provider for me and the children I would have.”

“This all sounds very stepford,” Dave said.

“I know.”  She fiddled with the top of her no show socks.  She looked a Dave.  “What your dad said didn’t seem to upset you.”

“That he loves Kurt, you and your mom?”

“Yeah.”

“For one thing, I already knew that, but more importantly him loving the three of you doesn’t make him love me less.  Love isn’t like that.  A person can love a lot of people without their love for the first person they loved diminishing.  I’m not sure how that could work in the case of romantic love, but I guess it’s possible.  Our society is centered around a pairing of two people, but I guess it’s theoretically possible for three people to love each other romantically.  I’ve never really given the idea any consideration.  But platonic love and acceptance, yeah.  A person can love and accept an infinite number of people.  The level of closeness of those people can be different and the other aspects of their relationship can be different, but they can still love each other.”

Kurt said, “Love is freely given.  Anyone who only says they love you when you’ve done what they wanted isn’t showing you love – they’re showing you their approval.”

She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs.  “So, your dad said that he loves me.  If I dye my hair pink and start dressing like a skank, what will happen?”

“Hmm.  My best guess is that he’d tell you to get a job to fund your new look since your mom paid for the perfectly functional clothes you already have.  And not to take up smoking because looking cool is never worth dying of lung cancer.”

“You’re serious? I wouldn’t get any lectures about my reputation or anything?”

“I don’t think so. I mean if you made it perfectly clear you were going to start sleeping around, he’d make sure you went to the doctor and got some kind of birth control and understood about the fact that condoms aren’t just to keep people from getting pregnant.”

“Wow.”

Dave got up and pulled a folder off the lowest shelf.  He took something out and handed it to Quinn.

“‘Boys Who Love Boys’? Why are you showing me this?”

“Because when I came out to my dad and Kurt and I started dating, he got those pamphlets, read them, and then gave me ‘The Talk’.”

“I see.”

“I told him that I wasn’t ready for that and he told me that I would be one day and that he wanted me to know what I was doing.”

Kurt said, “My dad gave me the same pamphlets, a speech about how sex changes people, and encouraged me to wait until I’m 30.”

Quinn laughed. “Can I read these?”

“If you want. I’m not sure how they would be of any use to you.”

“Well, Santana talks about using a strap-on.”  Quinn opened each one briefly.

“TMI!” Kurt squealed. “Read them, but don’t talk about Santana.”

Quinn laughed at him.  She chose one and started to look at it more carefully.  “I’ve always thought she was very attractive.  And I think she could probably make a living as a professional dominatrix.”

“Ideas I did not need to think about,” Kurt said.  “Didn’t I just say ‘Don’t talk about Santana’?”

Quinn cackled. “I’ll just learn how to pleasure a man without having to have intercourse with him.  That way I won’t end up pregnant.”

“Sure,” Kurt said. “Knock yourself out.  Read them as many times as you want.”

She sat there and read through the one in her hand first, and then looked at the others again. When she finished she said, “Well, that was informative.” 

Kurt changed the subject.  “Back to you being Lucy.”

“I used to be. And you were a great friend as far as little kids can be good friends.  But even if your mom hadn’t died, our friendship was doomed back then.  I would have eventually quit going to children’s events and we didn’t go to the same elementary school or middle school.”

Kurt nodded. “It happens.  Kids don’t have control over where they go or when. Did you legally change your name?”

“No.  When they filled out the registration for middle school, they just put my middle name on the form.  I’m thinking of asking my mom to let me change it though. Lucy was my dad’s grandmother’s name.  My mom picked my middle name.  I think she’ll let me change it.  I just have to think of a new middle name.  I’ve been considering Elaine.  That’s my mom’s mother’s first name.”

“Quinn Elaine sounds nice.  Quinn Noelle?  Quinn Odettte?  A lot of the two syllable names with the accent on the last syllable would sound good.  Anyway, your mom said she didn’t know that my mom went by Lizzie.  She called her Kat the only time she talked about her.  Her full name was Katherine Elizabeth.”

“Maybe she didn’t recognize your mom?  When did they even know each other?”

“They both went to McKinley.  Your mom was a senior when mine was a freshman.”

Quinn’s face changed to on of calculation.  “Think about it, by the time we met when we were like four, my mom was 34. Your mom would have been 30. They didn’t run in the same circles, so it could very well be that my mom hadn’t seen your mom in over a decade.  People’s looks can change a lot between high school and early 30s.  Plus, you just said she thought your mom’s name was Kat. When she saw a lady with a nametag that said ‘Miss Lizzie’, she probably never gave it a second thought. We’d go to the library and Frannie would take me to the little kids’ area for whatever was going on and then she’d do her thing.  Mom wouldn’t even stay most of the time.  She’d go run errands and just leave Frannie there to watch me. She’s 8 years older than me.”

“Who knows? It’s not like it matters now anyway, but now you know the answer to your question.  Are you spending the night?”

“Not that I know of. They’re just watching a movie. I actually have homework I should go do since we’re going to be gone on Sunday.  I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”  She got up and moved towards the door.

“We’ll be there. Two more rehearsals before the recital.  I’m actually excited. I think our pieces look really good.”

“Me too.”  She pulled the door closed on her way out.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Quinn knocked on Puck’s door quietly.

“Yeah.  Come in.”

She opened the door slowly.  “Puck?  Can we talk?”

“Yeah, sure.”

She closed the door behind her and sat on the edge of the bed facing the chair he was sitting in. He put his book down on the table between the chair and the bed.

“The truth is that I wanted you.  I never wanted Finn. But my dad would have never approved of you and that was all that mattered to me back then.  I needed to be his perfect daughter.  But you liked me.”

“I still do, if you want us to have an honest, mature conversation.  I told you that I could keep everyone from finding out and I have, but if you were willing to live in Columbus, I would have wooed you after you came back last spring.  We weren’t ready to be parents, but I would have given up my womanizing ways for you.  I did.  I haven’t been with anyone since you told me you were pregnant.  I would have stayed with you and been faithful to you, if you had been willing to give me a chance.  God, Quinn you’re beautiful and amazing.  And I like the bitchiness, not that you are all the time, but I like that you know what you want and you’re willing to go after it. If I didn’t have Sarah and Nana to worry about, I’d follow you to wherever you’re going to college and work my butt off to prove to you that I could be the man worthy of you.”

“Puck, you can’t just say stuff like that.”

“Why?  It’s true. Dave never had any giant plans about living in New York, but he’s totally going to go live there because it’s what Kurt wants.  With you that night, everything was different.  I didn’t lie to you when I said that you were different.  You weren’t another notch on my bedpost.  I was seriously hoping that you’d break up with Finn, but I didn’t know enough about your dad and everything to understand where you were coming from.  If I did, I don’t know if I would have done anything differently or not. It was almost two years ago. We were 15.  I had a huge, massive crush on you.  I wanted you to be mine.  But I was still being stupid and running my pool cleaning business because I was desperate for money.  Our lives could not have been more opposite.”

“And I liked you too. A wine cooler wasn’t enough to convince me to do something I didn’t want to do.  I still think you’re the hottest guy in school.”

“Quinn, you said I can’t say stuff.  You can’t say things like that and not make me want to close the three foot gap between us and kiss you senseless.”

“I would like that. A lot actually.  But I can’t.  Like you said, you have responsibilities in Columbus and I want to go to school on the East Coast.  I just want you to know that despite the rest of what happened, I appreciate how gentle and sweet you were with me.  You said you’d make it good for me and you did.  And I appreciate how much help you’ve been with trying to get the jocks to act like decent humans beings.”

“You know what fucking sucks?  That the girl that I’ve liked for three years is sitting a few feet from me telling me that she likes me too, but that we can’t act on it because I’ve decided to take care of my sister and my nana because my deadbeat dad ran off and my alcoholic ma is in jail.  That’s nine years of me taking on a responsibility that shouldn’t be mine.  I had to give up my own child not because I can’t raise a child. I’ve already done that. Sarah’s only been living with Nana for not quite two years.  I took care of her a lot of the time before Nana Connie had a heart attack. Never mind, none of this is your fault.  If I hadn’t lied to you, you wouldn’t have gotten pregnant and that’s just the bottom line.  I was stupid.  I was also 15.”  Noah put his head in his hands.

Quinn got up and put her hand on his head and ran her fingers through his hair and kissed the top of his head.  “I’m sorry too. I should have never invited you over and said ‘yes’ when I knew that my dad would never approve.  It’s my fault too.  Please stop feeling like it was all your fault.”

There was a quiet knock on the door.  Quinn moved to open it.

“The boys said you were down here working on schoolwork, but clearly you aren’t.”

“Puck and I were talking.  I was just trying to make him cheer him up.  Things are rough.  I’ll grab my backpack from the other room.”  She went across the hall.

Judy said, “I’ll send Paul up when we go down.  He’s probably more help than another teen can be.  Whatever’s going on, I hope you can work it out.”

Puck nodded. “Yeah.  I’m trying, but Superman had special powers that I didn’t get.”

She smiled sadly and nodded.  She closed the door and sent Paul up on their way out.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Paul knocked on Puck’s door.

“Yeah.”

He went in and closed the door behind him.  “What’s going on?  Judy said you were upset.”  He leaned back against the door.

“Well, who wouldn’t be?  Quinn told me she still likes me, but there can never be anything between us because I have to stay in Columbus to raise my little sister because I have deadbeat parents. So, she likes me and I still like her.  I’ve done everything. I make straight A’s, I work, I play sports, and I’m in Glee.  I could probably get into most any college now, but it doesn’t matter because I have to go raise the child my parents had and didn’t want.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Sarah, but it’s not right that I have to be her parent.  Quinn sitting there and telling me the things she did just about ripped my heart out.  Why can’t I have what I want? Why can’t I go to whatever school I can get a scholarship to or afford that’s somewhere near where she will go to school? I know there is no answer. There’s no more an answer to that that my sister’s questions of why ma doesn’t love her or why our dad ran off.”

Paul just listened and let him vent.

“I can’t do this anymore.  Talking to her tipped the scales.  I need to get away from here.  I need to get to Columbus and get started on my new life.  I can’t stay for another year and pretend to be a badass who gets bad grades and doesn’t care about people to everyone not in Glee.  Trying to be that person at school all day is making me feel like I have multiple personalities.  Trying to keep them separate is getting too hard.  All while trying not to let it show that I’m head over heels for her.  I’m going to go to Columbus when I turn 18.  I need to be the new me all the time.  The me that all of you know and that my sister and my nana know.”

“Okay.  So, three months.  You have three months to plan.  I’ll help you in any way that I can.  First off, you have to find an apartment or a house to rent in the same school district that your nana lives in.  I can get an agent and I can drive there to view places with you.”

“I don’t know how that works, but I’ll learn if you go with me the first time.  I just can’t be here for another year.  I need to find a job in Columbus too.”

“That’s where Burt can help.  He knows lots of people and he has a good business reputation.  You’ll need to get in contact with whoever you worked for at the Y to add them to your references.  Most jobs require you to list two references.  You can list more.  If you have any teachers who would be willing to vouch for your work ethic, you need to talk to them before the school year ends and get their contact information.  Listing me won’t work this time because I’m your guardian now.”

“I hadn’t thought about that.  I’m going to talk to Kurt about whether anyone is leaving this summer and my potential for getting more hours.  Otherwise, I’ll need to get a second job like I did last summer.  I have to get on that this week because school gets out in four weeks.”

“And don’t give up on the idea of college if that’s what you want to do.  Your nana is in good health and there’s no reason to think that she’s not going to live for the next five years.  If you go to college, you will finish the year that Sarah finishes the 8thgrade.  You could both move to wherever.  High school is a time when most people start over and make new friends because multiple junior highs or middle schools feed into the same high school.  It doesn’t have to be nine years before you start doing what you want.  If you go to OSU, more than likely you’d get enough grants to pay for you to attend college.  And if you got a scholarship of any sort, the grants could go to help you cover your living expenses so you wouldn’t have to work as much. Don’t give up.  Really start thinking about what it is you want to be doing in five years.  If it’s being a mechanic, then great.  If it’s being a teacher, then great.  If you want to be a personal trainer, you could do that.”

Puck sat up and stretched his back.  “You’re right.  I haven’t reset my mind toward the fact that I am actually a really good student and with my dad gone and my ma in jail, maybe I can write a killer essay and get a scholarship.  That’s why I need to get out of here.  Being here makes me feel like the Lima Loser everyone still sees me as.  I need my own view of myself to change and that’s hard here.”

“I’ll get an agent on Monday.  I’ll see about setting up appointments for next weekend.”

“Thanks.”

Paul pushed away from the door.  “You’re welcome. We’ll try to find the best solution to a situation you should have never had to deal with.”

Puck nodded.

Paul left, closing the door behind him.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Paul went upstairs and knocked.

“Come in,” Dave said.

“Hey, guys. Business or pleasure reading?” Paul sat down in the chair that Quinn had been sitting in earlier.

Dave answered, “Well, still business, but we’re hoping to get to the pleasure reading before we go to bed.”

“So, Quinn’s birthday is tomorrow and we’re going out as a family for lunch when you come back and the Glee girls are all going to kidnap her from the restaurant and take her to Brittany’s house for the afternoon?”

Kurt said, “Yep. Nothing’s changed that I know of. And I’m going to her house to steal all of her super strong magnets off her bulletin board and take them to the shop to solder the butterflies I bought to them, and then take them back before they bring her home for dessert.”

“Alright then. You can text me when you leave Findlay.  We’ll meet you at the Greek place.”

“Sounds good,” Dave said.  “Gyros for me. Mmm.”

Paul got up out of the chair and walked toward the futon.  “Stand up.”

Kurt looked confused, but put his book to the side and got up, as did Dave.  Paul stepped closer to Dave and hugged him.  He stepped around the ottoman.  “It’s okay if you don’t want me to hug you, but I’d like to.”

Kurt nodded.  He let Paul wrap him in a quick bear hug.

“I realized tonight when Quinn ran off that although actions speak louder than words, people need to hear the words too.  I do love both of you.  I know Dave knows that, but I want to make sure you know too, Kurt.”

Kurt nodded again, but a few tears streamed down his cheeks.  He wiped them with his hand.

“I won’t keep you from your schoolwork.  I know you have a busy weekend.”

“Good night, Dad.” Dave followed Paul and locked the door after he left.  He walked back to where Kurt was still standing and wrapped his arms around Kurt.

Kurt let Dave hold him.  He took a deep breath and let it out.  “I’m okay.  Let’s finish up. I really don’t want any work left to do when we go to bed.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave finished his homework before Kurt, which was typical because he worked on his before he made dinner each evening, while Kurt was still at work.  He went downstairs to get an apple because Kurt said he was craving one.  He grabbed one from the fruit bowl and washed it.  He was getting ready to slice it up when Paul walked in.

“This is going to be an embarrassing conversation, so I’m just going to get right to the point. Does one of you need to see a doctor?”

“For what?”

“Manly problems.”

Dave looked confused.

“When I was upstairs in your room earlier the pamphlets I gave you over a year and a half ago were sitting out on the table next to where I sat down.”

Dave burst out laughing and explained why they were out.

“So, everything’s fine?”

“We haven’t needed the information in the pamphlets, if that’s what you’re trying to find out.”

“Now, I’m the one that’s confused.  You haven’t? You’re not?  Are you sure one of you doesn’t need a doctor?”

“Neither of us needs a doctor.  You thought we have been?”

“Well, yeah. Two teenage guys in love that have slept in the same bed every night minus about 10 days for the last 14 months and for most of the time for 6 months before that.”

“Oh. Well, we haven’t and there’s nothing wrong with either of us, but I appreciate you being willing to embarrass yourself to makes sure that we don’t need medical treatment. I’ll go put those brochures away.” He turned around, grabbed a knife, and sliced Kurt’s apple up onto a paper towel. He put the knife in the dishwasher, grabbed the apple slices, and slipped past Paul to go back upstairs.

“Here’s your apple.”

“Thanks.”  Kurt took the stack of slices and started munching them while he read the end of the US History chapter he was almost done with.

Dave grabbed the pamphlets and pulled the folder back out and put them in it.  Kurt looked up and noticed what he was doing.

“Those were sitting there when your dad came in.”

“They were, and they prompted an interesting conversation in the kitchen while I was getting your apple.”

“Oh, God.”

“He was just checking to make sure that neither of us were having problems that we need to see a doctor about.”

“Oh.”

“I told him we were both fine and not in need of medical care.”

Kurt went back to reading and munching his apple. When he finished, he put his book with the rest of his schoolbooks.  “Shower?”

“Definitely.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After their shower, they were lying in the dark in bed.  Kurt had his hands palms down under Dave’s shoulders, propping himself up on his elbows while lying on Dave.  He had his nose nuzzled against Dave’s neck.  “You’re very comfy.”  He slid down to the side a bit and got his arm comfortable.  He used his free hand to run his fingers across Dave’s chest.

Dave took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  “I like it when you do that.  It’s really relaxing.”

“Good.”

“Ready to sleep?”

“Except I didn’t get my good night kiss.”

Dave smiled and turned towards him.  “We can’t forget that.”  He pressed his lips to Kurt’s and they kissed for several minutes.  “I love you.”  He kissed him gently and lay back so he could sleep.

“I love you too.” Kurt snuggled in close and relaxed.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Quinn asked, “Why are we here?”

“For your birthday lunch,” Kurt said.  “You didn’t think we forgot did you?”

“I may have never had a sister before, but I know it’s bad form to forget your sister’s birthday.” Dave got out and opened the back door for her like she was royalty.  He shut the door once she got out.

Kurt came around and met them and took her other arm to give her a double escort into the restaurant.

“You two are crazy.”  

Kurt said, “Disputable, but it’s your birthday, so I’ll let it slide.”

They got inside and Paul and Judy were there already.  They three of them sat down and looked at the menu, even though they were pretty set in their favorites already.  The server came and took their orders a few minutes later.

“Happy birthday, sweetie,” Judy said.  “How was ballet?”

“It was good. Everything’s looking really good. We’re having a studio dress rehearsal next Saturday to make sure our outfits all work with the pieces we’re doing.”

“Well, we have our tickets and we’re excited to see you.  The studio is recording it, right?”

“They are,” Kurt answered.  “We already ordered two copies.  They’ll be mailed to our place to save on shipping.”

“That’s fine.  I’m glad you decided to go with Quinn.  I think it’s been good for both of you.”

Kurt smiled.  “I really do like it.  Now that we’re older the moms realize that without any guys the pieces are less interesting, so they don’t say mean things. Thanks for letting me go with Quinn.  I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome, honey.”

It didn’t take long for their food to come and they all started eating.  When they were about 10 minutes from being done, Kurt excused himself to the bathroom and texted Santana.  He sat back down next to Dave and winked at Judy where Quinn couldn’t see.  They finished up, paid their bill, and left the restaurant. 

They let Quinn walk out first.  When she stepped outside the girls were all waiting for her and yelled, “Surprise!” and she stopped dead in her tracks. 

“Well, I am definitely surprised.  What’s going on here?”

“We’re going back to my place,” Brittany said.  “Lord Tubbington is waiting for us.”

“Well, we can’t keep him waiting, can we?” Quinn said, smiling.  “Let’s go, then.”

The girls piled into Brittany’s mom’s mini-van and Santana got in the driver’s seat and they took off.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt used his phone to take a picture of how Quinn had the stuff placed on her bulletin board. He took all of the super strong magnets and put them in a ziptop bag and went to the kitchen.  He kissed Dave and left.  Dave pulled out everything he needed and got busy making the chocolate-crusted cherry cheesecake.

Kurt went to the shop and pulled out the 12-pack of stainless butterflies he had gotten. Each one was different but they were all around the same size, which was between 1 and 1.5cm.  He placed the magnets on a stainless ruler and clamped the ruler to the table to keep them in place. He used a soldering gun to attach the tiny butterflies to the magnets.  He let them cool while he cleaned everything up.  He unclamped the ruler and took it with him.

He went back to Judy’s house and used the photo he had taken and put all of Quinn’s papers back where they had been.  When he finished, he washed his hands and grabbed an apron to start working on the black forest chocolate cake with the cherries in the center that seemed to be everyone’s favorite.  The cheesecake came out right in time for Kurt to put the cake in.

Once the cheesecake had cooled a bit, Dave moved it to the refrigerator.  He turned around to be faced with Kurt, who smiled and kissed him.  They both got to work on cleaning the kitchen back up.  Kurt found Judy in the laundry room ironing a tablecloth.  Paul was helping her by holding the end up. Kurt took it and he and Dave put it on the table.  They opened the pack of birthday plates and put them out, along with forks.

Kurt and Dave went out to sit on the back porch to wait for the timer to go off for the cake.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The girls arrived looking like they had been to a salon.  They had done each other’s nail and hair.  Kurt got them to pose together and took several pictures. The girls sat down around the table and Kurt and Dave brought in the cake and the cheesecake.  Everyone sang and Kurt and Dave carried the cakes back into the kitchen to cut them.  They pulled out pieces for themselves and Paul and Judy and took the cakes back into the other room and began putting slices onto the birthday plates. 

Dave and Kurt overheard the girls teasing Quinn about getting two brothers that they wanted to steal for themselves.  They took Paul and Judy’s pieces outside to them, and then ate their pieces in the kitchen.  Kurt and Dave headed home to start their typical Sunday evening of rest and relaxation a day early.

 [][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next morning, Sam arrived with Stevie and Stacey and Quinn picked Brittany and Lexi up and brought them over.  The three little kids climbed into the third-row seat.  Kurt opened the back so everyone could add their lunches to the cooler. 

Quinn hugged Kurt. “It seems that the butterfly fairy visited me yesterday.”

“So why I am being hugged?”

“Because you’re the only person who’s heard me complain about how hard those super magnets are to pull off the bulletin board who also has the skill to use a soldering gun, which is what Paul told me had been used to fasten the butterflies to the magnets. I asked because I had been unsuccessful using glue.  The magnets were stronger than the glue.”

“I see. Circumstantial evidence, at best.” He kissed her on the cheek. “You’re welcome.  I hope you like them.”

“I do.  They’re perfect.”  She climbed in the backseat with the others and closed her door.

They met up with Puck, Sarah, and Carlos at the zoo when it opened.  Once they hit the sidewalk the two kids starting running towards the rest of the group.

Sarah started off with, “This is my friend Carlos.  Carlos, you already know Dave and Kurt and that’s Brittany and Lexi.  And that’s Sam and Stevie and Stacey and Quinn.”

Carlos waved at everybody.  By then Puck had caught up to them.  They all walked to the ticket area and bought their tickets.  Kurt had managed to slip Sam a $20 bill for Stevie and Stacey before they left Lima.  All of the kids were drilled one last time about the need to stay with the teens.  All the kids took their siblings hand, except Stacey who grabbed Quinn’s hand.  Carlos walked up and took Kurt’s hand and then grabbed Dave’s hand. 

“You two are the only ones that don’t have a little brother or sister and I don’t have a big brother or sister, so all three of us can be partners.”

 “Good plan,” Kurt said, realizing that Carlos must have assumed that Stacey and Quinn were sisters.

They all headed towards the right, but Brittany stopped.  “Everyone is going this way.  Why don’t we go the other way where it’s not crowded.”  She turned and walked straight toward the fountain and to the area on the other side of the underpass.  Everyone followed her.  They didn’t stop to look at anything and went all the way back to the Congo area and walked through it first.  They stopped and let the kids play in the insect themed playground for a little while.  They all grouped up and got someone to take a picture of all of them together before they headed into the Australia area.

Dave picked Carlos up to carry him through some of the exhibits so he could see better because he was small.  Kurt stepped closer when he did and took Dave’s hand.  He smiled when he had flashes of how things could be in 10 years or so. Dave caught him staring. Kurt winked at him, which made Dave smile.  When they got around to the building with the nocturnal creatures, all of the kids decided they wanted to go in, but only if someone carried them.  Kurt helped all of the kids get up into piggy-back position and they headed inside. 

When they exited the Australia area, Brittany stopped and pulled out $11 in cash and decided they’d all ride the carousel.  Kurt managed to get pictures of everyone while they were riding. When they got off, they went into the manatee building.  Everyone loved the manatees.  From there they moved on to see the fish, and then the smaller exhibits across the path.  Before they headed back to the other side of the underpass, they stopped to watch the flamingos.

Carlos talked most of the way through the whole area, talking non-stop about the wildlife.

Kurt asked, “Did you study before we came today?” when they were walking through the tunnel.

“I did.  I looked the zoo up online and I looked up all of the animals listed.  Did you know they have over 500 species here in the zoo?”

Kurt said, “I did not know that.”

He continued to regale everyone with his detailed knowledge until they got to the front gate. They got their hands stamped and made sure they had their ticket stubs before they left the zoo.  They went to the Navigator and Kurt opened the back up for everyone to grab their lunches.  Puck got the three lunches he brought out of his truck. Dave grabbed the drinks they brought.  Everyone headed to the picnic area and ate. 

When they were done, Kurt and Dave grabbed anything leftover and took it to the Navigator while everyone else headed back into the zoo.  Carlos stayed with Puck until Dave and Kurt caught back up with them.

Kurt asked him, “How come you only choose Dave to lift you up so you can see better?”

“He’s big and strong.”

“Hey, Quinn!” Kurt called out.

She turned and walked towards him.  Stacey followed along with her.  He leaned and whispered in her ear.  She nodded.  She took her bag off and handed it to Dave.  She turned, positioned herself, and jumped.  Kurt lifted her straight up and sat her on his shoulder. She leaned back arching her back before she slid down.  She took her bag back from Dave.

Carlos’ eyes were huge.  “How did you do that? You’re the smallest of all of the guys.”

“Smaller doesn’t have to mean weak, Carlos,” Kurt said.

He took Kurt’s hand again.  “All the boys say I’m wimpy and I’m always going to be weak.”

Dave said, “Don’t listen to them. They don’t have some special knowledge about the future. They’re the same age as you and I’m pretty sure you know more than they do.  He wrapped his arm around Kurt’s waist.  “Kurt was MVP the last two years for the football team.”

“You play football?”

“I do.  I’m the kicker.  Our team won the State Championship this year.  Me, Dave, Puck, and Sam were all on the team. Quinn and Santana are cheerleaders.  I was a cheerleader last year too.”

“That’s cool. Maybe I can grow up and play football.”

“If it’s something you really want to do, I have no doubt that you can.  But you could also play soccer or baseball or not play a sport at all.  All of us sing together.”

“Like a band?”

“It’s called show choir.  We sing and dance in competitions.  We’re going to New York in a little less than three weeks to compete in the National Show Choir Competition.”

“That’s really cool.”

“It is.”

“How are you strong when you look so small compared to Dave?”

“I do different kinds of exercises.  Do you want me to tell your mom about them?”

“Yeah.  Can I do it at home?”

“Yep.”

“Can Sarah do it with me?”

“Yes.”

“Yay!”  He pulled Dave towards Puck and Sarah so he could talk to her.

They visited the North America, Africa, and Asia sections of the zoo during the afternoon.  When the zoo closed, the kids said their goodbyes.  Everyone piled back into the Navigator.  Kurt handed out the leftovers from their lunches and snacks to those who had no leftovers, along with a bottle of water to everyone for the drive back. They all talked about their favorite animals and things they saw on the way back.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Late that night when Kurt and Dave were curled up in bed together, Kurt said, “Do you know what my favorite par of today was?”

“What?”

“Seeing you and us with Carlos and imagining how it could be us for real one day, with a son.”

“You think?”

“You don’t want kids?”

“I do, but it seems like such a long time from now.”

“I know, but that’s okay.  We’ll have to save up to adopt or hire a surrogate.”

“One day you can bring him to my office and we’ll go watch his first NFL game together.”

“How about his first NHL game?  Football is way too boring for a preschooler.”

Dave laughed. “NHL it is.”  He kissed Kurt. 

Kurt turned on his side and scooted back into Dave’s chest.  He took the hand his could reach and interlaced their fingers. “I think you’ll make an excellent dad some day.”

“So will you.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When school got out Tuesday, Kurt and Dave had Sam follow them out to the truck.  Kurt opened the door and took out the cake carrier. 

“Happy Birthday, Sam! You can give me the cake carrier back tomorrow after school.  It’s an apple cinnamon bundt cake, like you had at the house the one time and liked so much.”

Sam hugged him. “Thanks, dude.  That’s awesome.  You make the best cakes.”

“You’re welcome. We’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

Sam took the cake and put it in his truck and took off.

“Why’s Evans looking like he won the lottery?” Azimio asked, coming up behind Dave.

“Kurt made him on of those apple cinnamon bundt cakes.”

“Well, damn. I’ll hug you if you give me one. Is that all I gotta do? Come here.”  He pulled Kurt into a hug.  “There.  We good?”

Kurt shook his head. “You’re crazy, Azimio.  You already know how to get a cake from me. Sam got a cake because it’s his birthday.”

“Oh, so that hugging was for nothing?” Azimio pretend pouted.

Mercedes walked up. “Now, what did you say to Azimio to make him look that upset?  You tell him you weren’t ever going to bake for him again?”

Kurt just rolled his eyes.  “I did no such thing. He’s faking being sad because I gave Sam a birthday cake and I didn’t bring him a cake, even though I did make him a cake on his birthday like six months ago.”

“You big baby, “ she said to Azimio.  “Stop with the fake pouting.”

“Fine.”  He turned the pouting to beggy puppy eyes. “Will you please make me a cake? You did forget my half-birthday a couple of weeks ago.”

“Your half-birthday?” Kurt rolled his eyes again. “I am going to be late to work, but I’ll make one Thursday night and bring it to school Friday.”

“Yes!” He threw his fist up in the air like he’d scored the winning touchdown.  He did a victory dance over to his truck.

Mercedes laughed and walked off to her car.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When Kurt got off from work, he met Carole at the house.  Burt and Finn were having dinner somewhere else.  He knocked on the door and waited for her to answer it.  He stepped in and closed the door behind him. 

“I brought home Chinese.  I ordered you what Burt said you like.”

“Thanks.” 

They went into the kitchen and sat down.  She already had everything out on the table.  Kurt opened his containers and plated the food.  He waited for her and then started to eat when she did.

“Why did you want to see me?  It’s been a little over three weeks since I moved back out and dad ended up in the hospital.”

“Finn was practicing the choreography for that song that Rachel wrote in the family room.  I kept hearing it over and over. I’ve felt a lot like that song for the last year and a few months.  I thought I was doing right by Finn, letting him be a kid and enjoy his life. And yes, I felt guilty that he didn’t have a dad and I did everything in my power to be a fun parent.  I played with him.  I read to him.  I did my best to redirect rather than to scold or punish. But at some point along the way, I turned into a pushover and I let him get away with things that should have been addressed differently.  And somewhere along the way, carefree and happy become lazy and entitled.”

Kurt nodded.  “And my dad did the opposite, more or less. He played with me when I was young, and then it was time to grow up.  We’ve had this conversation before.”

“I know.”

“I think we’ve had this same conversation with slight variations ever since we first met. It’s not that we don’t know what the problems are, it’s that there is no solution that fits everyone’s wishes. So, we remain at an impasse no matter how many times we have this conversation.  I am aware that Finn is maturing.  He is cooking, cleaning, and taking care of himself more than he was. And those are good things.”

“But they aren’t enough.  That’s what brought on my frustration with you before we moved in.  I’m not saying I had any right to be frustrated with you, but it doesn’t change the fact that I was.  Burt did everything he could.  He looked for houses for months that had equal sized bedrooms for the two of you and two living areas so you could both have space when you need it.  But it turned out that none of it was good enough because you still didn’t want to move in. I’ve moved twice in a little over a year.  I was rude that night we met after we were approved to buy this house.  And I nearly yelled at you about how you were being unreasonable when Burt had worked so hard to find a place that would work.  There you were saying you were going to paint, redo the closets, and build bookshelves.  And all I could think about was that I was going to have to hire someone to redo whatever you did.  But I underestimated you again.  The evening you and Dave came with us and show us what you’d done, I was shocked.  Everything looked perfect, like I had hired a company to do it.  You had gone out of your way to everything so well, even after I had been rude.”

“I’m glad you like how it turned out.  That was my goal.  I didn’t do it for the money because I didn’t make any.  I actually lost out on a week’s pay because I worked on the house instead of going to work at the shop.”

“I didn’t know that.”

Kurt shrugged and continued to eat.

“You moved in and then you refused to eat like you were on some hunger strike.  And my quills were back up.  Burt was edgy because of the blood flow thing with the artery, but I didn’t know why at the time.  He grounded you the whole first week you were here, but he would only say that you were being mouthy and uncooperative.”

“We were both standing in my room and I said something about spending the weekend at Dave’s and he informed me that just because he had said that I could stay over at other people’s places on Friday and Saturday that it didn’t mean that I could stay overnight at Dave’s.  He informed me that Dave was not included on that list of people because you would never allow Finn to sleep over at a girlfriend’s house.  He changed the rules yet again and I was upset.  I asked him to leave me alone in my room.  He stayed.  I repeated my request.  I didn’t yell or scream.  I just said, ‘Please, leave.’ And he grounded me.  He wouldn’t even let me go outside. He made me uninstall Skype. I was being psychologically tormented by the person caught on video.  I decided to start taking photos before I left in the mornings.  I’d come back after work and things were moved around.  I showed Dad. He said I was imagining things. I didn’t feel like eating. I wasn’t on a hunger strike, I was anxious and didn’t feel well.”

“Like that song says, I keep making a mess of things between us.  I just can’t seem to wrap my head around the fact that you and Finn are the same age.  If I had left him with two friends here to paint the house, redo the closets, and build shelves, I would have come home to a disaster.”

“All I can say is that if you want to quit making a mess of things between all of us is to quit comparing me to Finn.  I’m me.  I’ve extended an olive branch to you countless times over the last 16 months.  You have yet to take it in good faith.  You act like you’re going to, and then you go back to needing there to be some kind of fairness when dealing with me and Finn. I think that’s where you keep not getting it right.  Just stop.  Just realize that Finn and I are like apples and oranges – or any other two supposedly similar things that have a lot more differences than similarities.”

She nodded.

They both went back to eating for a while.  Kurt pulled his phone out and looked through a few things.

“I can attach two of these to the headboard, one on each side so that it will look like it was designed to be wider than the head of the bed.”  He turned the phone around so she could see.  “I know I’m taking the twin bed with me today and you’ve already had the queen bed delivered.  You can decide whether you want me to get those or something different or not do anything right now.”

“Actually, I like those a lot more than anything I had found.  Send me a link to those and I’ll order them.  I’ll let you know when they come, if you’ll come install them.”

“Sure.  I made the headboard, so I know the best way to install them.”  He clicked and sent her the link to the wall lamps and went back to eating.

They ate in silence for a while again.

“I don’t want to keep doing this, to be honest.  It’s hard on me.  You act like things are okay and then you go back to square 1 again, over and over.  I told you from the beginning that I would support you and Dad whether you and I ever became friends or not.  That’s still true. He loves you and that’s good enough for me.  I don’t think we can do the blended family until we’re all equals.  Aometimes things just don’t work out.  We don’t celebrate holidays the same way, so I can’t figure out any point in visiting on holidays.  Maybe we can work out some holidays of our own that only involve the four of us at some point.  But for now, I’m sorry, but I’m just saying ‘no thank you’.  Maybe I’m in the wrong, but I’ve had the rug pulled out from under me one too many times lately.  When we can sit down and we can talk about something besides Finn or how Finn and I are different, then maybe things can change, but right now, I still see the same cycle.  You keep comparing us.”

She didn’t say anything.

“I’ll fix the headboard and install the lamps and I’ll see Dad at work and interact with him there. This separation was going to happen anyway.  Dad knew that I wouldn’t stay in Lima.”  He got up and rinsed his plate and put it in the dishwasher and rinsed the containers, and then remembered that Carole didn’t recycle, so he tossed them in the trash.  “Thank you for dinner. Let me know when the lamps come. Dave should be here any minute to help me move the twin bed out.  I’ll just go grab the bed linens and wait for him outside.”  Kurt took the trash bag from what had briefly been his room, walked through the living room, opened the door and stepped outside.  He put the trash bag in his passenger seat and waited by the Navigator.

Dave pulled up a couple of minutes later.  They went inside and carefully carried the mattress out and put it in the back of the Navigator.  They went back in and carried the folded bed frame out to the back of Dave’s truck. 

Kurt went back in. “Was there anything else you needed me to do?”  He didn’t see Carole and he went to look for her.  He found her in the kitchen standing at the sink crying.  He repeated his question.

“No.  That’s it.”  She wiped her eyes.  “I am sorry.”

Kurt nodded. “I’m not even sure what you’re sorry for.  It feels like you’re sorry that I’m still a square peg that won’t fit in the round hole you see sons fitting in.  Choices were made and not just once.  I came here today as my last attempt, but you made it about you and Finn and not about me at all.  I’m the one that lost out and you’re still caught up on parenting styles. I’m not walking away angry. I don’t have the ability to grant you absolution, but I can grant you freedom from the need to continue to try to make this work between the four of us.  This is just a non-issue from now on.  You are my dad’s wife and Finn is his stepson – those are the facts.  There is little use in being angry over facts.  The three of you live here together happily – more facts.  I will always love my dad – another fact. I don’t need a mommy, but I could have used a friend, which is fact that is no longer relevant since you don’t seem to be interested in making friends with 17 year olds.  I’m done being angry.  It takes too much effort to stay angry.  This is where I use wisdom to realize this is something I cannot change, so I need to stop trying.  I am glad that you and Finn make dad happy.  I love him and I want him to be happy.  I’m going to go now.”  He walked to the front door and left.  He knew that Dave had already left.  He got in the Navigator, pulled out, and drove home.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave was waiting for Kurt when he pulled into the driveway.  They carried the bed up to the spare room that Quinn used occasionally to get it out of the way.  They carefully slid it under the queen size bed.  They left the frame in the garage.  Kurt took the bed linens inside and washed all of them because he didn’t care for the smell of the products Carole used on them when she washed and dried them. 

Kurt helped Dave make dinner while the bed linens washed.  Kurt kept being flirty and a lot more of a hindrance than a help. He pinned Dave to the counter and started kissing the back of his neck.

“You’re in a mood.”

“Shall I stop?”

“Not at all.” He managed to turn himself around and kiss Kurt.  “Did things go well?”

“Actually, no. But it’s over.  I told her no more attempts.  No more meals.  No more meetings.  I’m going to put the lamps up on the headboard we made, but that’s it.”

“Then, why do you seem cheerful?”

“It’s done.  No more worries, no more stress.  I’m not angry.  I had thought about this a lot before I went today.  I decided if it was just the same conversation again, it was time to let it go.  But I would give it a chance if she started a conversation about something so we could get to know each other.  I gave her a final chance today.  I went in with a positive attitude and she started the same conversation we’ve had numerous times.  She didn’t ask me about school, New York, college, what I do in my free time, or anything.  And she didn’t tell me about herself.  She didn’t tell me funny stories about anything that had happened at work.  She didn’t tell me anything that I haven’t heard several times.  That’s that.  There’s nothing more to be said about it.  We’re stuck in a loop and I’m stepping out.  And I have you and we’re together and I’m happy.  That doesn’t mean there isn’t room in my life for more happiness.  It just means that I’m not letting something that ‘could be’ ruin what I already have.  My recital with Quinn is in one and a half weeks.  We’re going to New York City again in two and a half weeks.  School lets out in three and a half weeks.  I’m loved and I love the people who love me.” He started to hum and then sing.

_Ooh ooh ooh_  
_Don’t worry.  Be happy._

 And he switched songs.

_Let it be. Let it be. Let it be. Yeah, let it be._  
_Whisper words of wisdom.  Let it be._

And he switched back.

_Ooh ooh ooh_  
_Don’t worry.  Be happy._

He started bebopping around the kitchen, kissing Dave.  He changed the song again and changed the lyrics a bit in his silliness. He took Dave’s hand and twirled him, causing Dave to break out laughing. 

_I’ve had the time of my life._  
_No, I’ve never felt this way before._  
_Yes, I swear it’s the truth._  
_I owe it all to you._

_Just remember,_  
_You’re the one thing_  
_I can’t get enough of._  
_So, I’ll tell you something._

He kissed Dave and pretended to dip him.

_I love you._

Paul came in from work to find them in the kitchen cracking up.  He smiled at them and asked, “What’s going on in here?”

Kurt put on his best innocent look.  “We’re just making dinner.”

“I don’t see any pots on the stove and the oven isn’t on.” He raised his eyebrows, teasing them.

Dave burst out laughing.  “We’ll get to that part.”


	30. Chapter 30

Before school on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, the New Directions rehearsed their songs for Junior Prom.  Being part of the entertainment allowed Tina and Artie to attend prom with everyone else. 

Late Saturday afternoon, Kurt and Dave were already dressed and ready to go.  Paul took a few pictures of them before they left to meet up with Quinn, Sam, Mercedes, Azimio, Tina, and Artie for a pre-prom dinner at BreadStix, much to Azimio’s dismay.

Santana and Brittany were there together, as were Rachel and Jesse.

Finn, Puck, and Mike were already in the choir room when everyone else showed up to warm up. The three of them decided to not invite anyone after the New Directions had been asked to provide the entertainment. 

When Quinn and Sam came in together, Finn’s ears would have been shooting out steam if he had been a cartoon character.  And he didn’t manage to keep it together when Rachel and Jesse walked in.

“What’s HE doing here?” he practically spat out.

Rachel calmly replied, with a bit of disdain, as if expecting Finn’s outburst, “He’s my prom date.  We’ve been dating for over a year now.  I would have expected you to realize that I would bring him to prom.”

“He can’t be here. He doesn’t go to school here.”

She responded condescendingly this time.  “I am not breaking any school rules.  We are allowed to invite non-students to be our dates for prom. They just have to be under 20, which Jesse is since he’s still 18.”

Finn dropped it when Mr. Schue came in the room.  “Alright, guys.  Let’s get warmed up.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They spread the group songs, solos, and instrumental pieces out so that all of the New Directions had some time to dance and enjoy prom as well. 

Finn was dancing with one of the Cheerios that asked him to when he saw Jesse kissing down Rachel’s neck.  He left his dance partner and approached Jesse and said, “Dude, keep it PG.”

Jesse smarted back. “Dude, it’s none of YB – your business.”

“Well, this is my school, so it’s my business.”

“This isn’t your girlfriend, so beat it, MJ.”

Finn shoved him. 

“Don’t shove me.” Jesse shoved back.

“Stop it,” Quinn stepped in.  “You’re ruining everything.”

They shoved each other back and forth, until Finn escalated it by taking a swing at Jesse. Coach Sylvester showed up and broke it up.

“Prom is over for you Sugar Ray!” she said to Finn.  She turned to Jesse.  “You too, Marvelous Marvin!  You’re out.  Let’s go!”  She escorted them both out of the building and sent Finn to his truck first insisting that he drive away before she spoke to Jesse.  “I’m going to give you a second chance.  I saw him take a swing at you and he did start it.  But if you step one toe out of line in there, you’re gone.”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you.”  Jesse went back in the building and found Rachel.

“Jesse?”

“Coach Sylvester let me come back in, but I can’t cross the line again or I’m gone.”

She hugged him. “Come on.  Let’s dance.”

About two-thirds of the way through the evening, Principal Harrison took the stage. 

“It’s time for me to announce this evening’s Junior Prom King and Queen.”  He opened the sealed envelope and read what it said. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment. Will the band please play a song or two until I come back?”

The band started to play the song they had just finished again, not really knowing what else to do. When they finished, they repeated the song they had played before it. Finally Principal Harrison stepped back up on the stage.

“This year’s McKinley High Junior Prom King is Azimio Adams and his Queen is Mercedes Jones.” 

The two of them stepped forward and let the crowns be put on them.  They stepped down to the dance floor and the music started for their dance.

Kurt and Dave danced their way towards them and congratulated them.  Mercedes was glowing.  They continued to dance through the song.  The rest of the evening went smoothly after Jesse stepped up and took Finn’s leads on the group songs.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday morning found Carole, Burt, and Paul in principal Harrison’s office.  Carole and Burt were called in first.

“I’ve called you here this morning to deal with the incident at Junior Prom.  Are you aware of what happened?”

“Finn came home early,” Carole answered.  “And he said that Coach Sylvester had made him leave prom because he got into an argument with Jesse and they were disrupting the event.”

“Well, that’s true, but not entirely accurate.  Finn shoved Jesse and attempted to punch him.  Jesse was uninjured because he was able to dodge the punch, but that does not change the fact that Finn is guilty of attempted assault. He is hereby sentenced to three days of in-school suspension.  I’ve already sent for him in his first period class.  He should be here momentarily.  He’ll be moved to our suspension room for the rest of the day. In-school suspension prevents him from participating in any extra-curricular activities during his suspension and he is required to stay in the suspension room all day, including lunch period.”

“I understand,” Carole said.

Finn arrived a couple of minutes later and was escorted to his locker to retrieve all of his books and then to the in-school suspension room.  Principal Harrison returned to his office.  “This will go on his permanent record.  Witnesses indicate that students attempted to intervene verbally and Jesse also told him to stop.”

Carole nodded.

“I need Mr. Hummel to stay and for Mr. Karofsky to come in as well.”

Carole got up and left.

Paul and Burt sat down.

“I know that Mr. Karofsky has guardianship of Kurt, but I thought as his father you would be interested in knowing this as well, but I need Mr. Karofsky’s permission for you to stay.”

“It’s fine.”

“Saturday evening at Junior Prom, a group of students attempted to humiliate Kurt by writing his name for Prom Queen.  They also wrote in David’s name for Prom King.  I did not let this travesty be publicly known.  When I opened the envelope, I left the stage to find out what had happened.  I discarded the write-in ballots and recounted the ballots myself and determined the King and Queen.  I just thought the two of you might want to be aware of the fact that, despite the lack of physical bullying, there are still troublemakers here that are just below the surface. I don’t know who was behind it and there’s no way to find out without everyone finding out what happened and humiliating Kurt, so I’m going to let it be.  Just so you know, I destroyed the write-in ballots as well.”

“I appreciate you telling me,” Paul said.

“Yeah, me too.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

A week later, Dave, Judy, and Paul took their seats in the auditorium in Findlay.  Puck, Sarah, and Carlos followed them in.

Dave said, “I peeked enough times to know that this is going to be amazing.”

Judy laughed. “I’m sure it will be, honey. They’ve been working really hard on it, but I’ve not gotten to peek.  I get caught and shooed away.”

“Ahh, the trick is to peek in during class.  They can’t do anything about it then.”

“I’m super excited because Kurt and Quinn are going to be awesome.  I just know it,” Sarah said.

Judy smiled at Sarah, but then her expression changed slightly, but changed right back. Dave turned and looked where she was looking.  He saw Burt and Carole come in.

Paul started to get up.  He spoke where only Dave and Judy could hear him.  “I’m going to go invite them to go out for ice cream with us afterwards.” He made his way over to where Burt and Carole were sitting.

Dave watched and saw Burt nod.  Paul came back and sat between Judy and Dave like before. 

Carlos said, “This is going to be cool.”  He was swinging his feet in excitement.  “I’ve never been to a dance show before.”

A few minutes later, the lights dimmed, the curtain opened, and music started.  The pieces alternated between the group pieces from advanced dance class and the advanced pairs dance class, small groups, duets, and solos.  There was a brief 10-minute intermission between the first and second halves of the program.

As soon as the lights came up, Puck took Carlos to the bathroom.  During the intermission, Paul spoke quietly to Dave and teased him.  “I’d have never bet on you being a big fan of ballet.”

Dave blushed a little.

Paul leaned in even closer.  “Young men in tight pants with all their muscles showing…”

Dave rolled his eyes. “One particular person, not young men in general.”

Paul smiled and sat up normally.  “I’m glad you can step outside what you would have considered your comfort zone and enjoy watching him do something he obviously really enjoys.”

“He came to watch me play hockey all season.  We can learn to like new things.  And we can also just like something for a particular participant.”  Dave smiled. 

“I’m glad. Really.  A lot of guys don’t try to learn about things their partners are interested in.”

“Well, I’m not that guy.  I may never read any books on ballet or watch any how-to videos, but I will show up and support him and enjoy watching him.  He actually took the time to learn all of the rules to hockey so he would understand what was happening in the games.  I’d be a real schmuck if I just blew him off and didn’t show up to watch him perform.”

“Unfortunately, there are a lot of schmucks in the world.”

“Isn’t that the sad truth?” Judy added. 

Sarah said, “Judy’s right.  My pop’s a schmuck. My nana says so.”

“But your brother and Paul and Kurt and Dave aren’t.”

Sarah looked at them. “I should hope not.”

Dave laughed. Puck and Carlos slipped back into their seats as the lights dimmed again, and they all quieted down.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt and Quinn came out to the foyer once they had changed. 

“That last piece was so cool,” Dave said.  He reached out and took Kurt’s empty hand and interlaced their fingers. “I loved your costumes. No wonder you wouldn’t let me watch you make them.  I loved the effect of Quinn’s lower half being white with the long-sleeved black top with your outfit the opposite.  I don’t know the names for any of it, but the way her skirt was so flowing and the sleeves draping like that on your outfit looked really cool.”

Kurt glowed under Dave’s praise.  “I’m glad it had the desired effect.”

Judy said, “The whole program was beautiful.”

“You made the costumes?” Carlos asked.

A young boy, about 8, approached Kurt, but stood back a little.  He listened to what they were talking about.  Dave took the garment bag Kurt was holding so he could talk to the kids more easily.

“I did make some of them and some of them had parts that were bought along with additions or changes I made to them.”

Sarah said, “That’s so cool.  I want to be able to make cool stuff some day.”  She turned to Puck.  “Maybe can I take dance lessons some day, Noah?  I want to be in dance shows or maybe sing and dance like you and Kurt and Quinn and Dave and everybody.”

“I’ll look into it,” Puck answered.

She hugged him.

“Hey there,” Kurt said, trying to get the boy to interact a little since he was just standing there. “Did you like the show?”

He nodded.

“What was your favorite part?”

He pointed at Kurt.

“You liked my part the best?”

He nodded.  “You were really cool.  The boys tease me, but one day I’ll be big and cool like you.”

“Don’t listen to the people who tease you.  I let them get to me for a while.”

“Really?”

Kurt nodded sadly.  “I quit ballet for several years.”  He pointed to Quinn. “Quinn was the one who convinced me to take lessons again.”

He smiled at her. He stepped a little closer so no one could hear him except Kurt.  “I saw you two holding hands.  Is he your boyfriend?”

“He is.”

“I like boys too, but everyone only talks about liking girls.”

“Do your parents know?” Kurt asked quietly.

He nodded.

“Were they okay about it?”

“My mom was.  My dad, not so much.  They’re right there.”  He pointed behind Kurt to the right.  He saw a guy about 30, who was slightly taller than him with short dark brown hair and a woman about the same age, who was a little taller than Quinn with shoulder length medium brown hair.

Kurt rotated a little and waved. 

The boy’s mom waved back. 

Kurt stood up. He spoke to Paul where no one could hear.  “I just can’t go right now.  This is more important.  I need to talk to his parents.”

“We’ll wait outside.”

Paul nodded.  He gathered everyone up, leaving Kurt and Dave with the boy.  Quinn grabbed the garment bag from Dave and followed everyone else. 

“Let’s go talk to your mom and dad.”

The three of them approached the boy’s parents.

The mom spoke first.  “I’m Sharla.  I hope Joel wasn’t bothering you.”

“Not at all. I’m Kurt.”  He reached out to shake Sharla’s hand.

Her husband reached out and shook his hand as well.  “I’m Doug.”

Dave introduced himself and shook their hands as well.

“It seems that Joel here is quite observant and he saw that Dave and I were holding hands.  He shared some information about himself with me.”

Sharla nodded.

“I’d just like to offer you my phone number if either of you would like to talk.  Dave and I each have different perspectives on growing up in a small town.  We’d be willing to sit down and talk some time if you’re ever interested.”

Doug looked at Dave and Kurt with some confusion.  “You both look really familiar.”

“I’m here in Findlay on Saturdays when Kurt has class.  I’m usually at the ice rink, but I’ve slacked off the last couple of weeks. I was at the ice rink a lot after school all year.  I play hockey.”

“That’s it. I’ve seen you at the skating rink at some of the games.  You don’t go to school here though.”

“We live in Lima. We go to McKinley,” Dave said.

“I played in high school.  I still come watch the Findlay games when I can.”

He looked at Kurt. “You looked familiar when I saw you on the stage, but I couldn’t place why I would know you, but now I know where I’ve seen you.  You were in the papers from winning the State Football Championship with a 100% field goal record for the season.”

“That’s me. Dave played football as well. I don’t play hockey though. I did figure skating for a while when I was younger.”

Sharla was visibly relieved that they had something in common with Doug.  “We’d love to meet up with you sometime.  Why don’t you give me your phone number and I’ll text you and we can arrange a time?”

Kurt gave her his number.  He turned to Joel. “It was nice meeting you today. I’m glad you had a good time watching our performance.  We worked hard on it and it’s always nice to know that people enjoy watching.”

“I did.  It was great.  The guys were all so big and strong and picked the girls up like they were so light.  I can’t pick any of the girls up yet.  I tried.”

“Don’t worry about that.  You have to get bigger first.  And don’t lose hope. The girls get bigger first. Last year when I started school for the 10thgrade, the girl I was dancing with today, Quinn – she and I were the same height.  There was no way that I could have picked her up then.  But by last summer I had grown enough that I could do it.  And now we’ve been dancing together not quite a year and it’s a lot easier to pick her up now than it was last year.”

“Really?  You’ve only been able to pick her up for about a year?”

“Yep.  You have to give yourself time to grow.  I was a slow grower.  Dave was already as tall as he is two years ago, but not me.  People grow at different times.  Your dad’s taller than I am, so I bet you’ll get pretty tall too.”

A huge smile spread across his face.  “How long have you two been boyfriends?”

Kurt answered, “A year and about 8 months.”

Joel asked, “How old are you?”

“We’re both 17,” Dave replied.

“I’m 8.”

“Well, we happen to have a big group of friends that happen to be 8 as well.  You saw two of them with us.  The other teenager with us is Noah, but his nickname is Puck.”

“That’s a funny nickname.”

“It’s the first part of his last name.”

“I get it.”

“So, Puck’s little sister Sarah and her best friend Carlos are here with us.  And our friend Sam has a little brother and sister who are 8.  Our friend Brittany also has a little sister who is 8.  They’re all a lot of fun.”

Sharla said, “Doug, can you and Joel go ahead out to the car?  I’ll be right out.”

“Sure.  It was nice to meet the two of you.” 

“You too,” they both said.

Kurt spoke to Joel before they left.  “Thank you for coming up and talking to me.  I’m glad we met.”

“Me too.  Bye, Kurt!”

“Will you really meet and talk with us?  You weren’t just saying that because Joel could hear you, were you?”

“Definitely not. I’d like you to meet another couple, Carlos’ parents, but they live in Columbus.  Carlos is gay too.  Maybe we can work out a way for you to meet his parents.  His mom is very supportive.  His dad is okay with it, but his dad’s family doesn’t know and won’t be supportive.  You can think about it.  All I know is that I’ve know I was gay since I was a child and I was the only gay guy I knew until Dave came out to me not quite two years ago.  It was hard, really hard, feeling so alone. When I came out to my dad at 16, he said he had known since I was three, but he had never said anything to me. He had been supportive of my non-masculine hobbies like sewing, dancing, and singing, but never spoke about his thoughts on being gay.  I thought he would be supportive, but I was still afraid to actually tell him. Dave’s dad had no idea so it was big surprise, but he handled it like a champ.”

Dave said, “I told him and he said he loved me and hat nothing had changed.  My mom disowned me and divorced him.  She’s gone.  The woman my dad was today with is his fiancé.  She’s Quinn’s mom – the one Kurt was dancing with.”

“Doug needs to get his head on straight.  The fact that you play football, Kurt, and that you play football and hockey just won a lot of street cred points with Doug.  He hears the word gay and he thinks it’s equal to prissy.”

“Well, I’ve been accused of that quite a bit, but never Dave.  We’re getting ready to go out to ice cream, but we were planning on doing it in Lima.  You three are welcome to come if you’re up for a road trip just for some ice cream.” 

“Are you sure it’s okay with everyone you’re with.”

“I’ll text them just to be sure.”  Kurt took his phone out and asked.  When he got a reply, he said, “They said it would be fine.  You can follow us if you want or if you go ahead and text me I can send you the name and you can get a map on your phone.”

She texted him. “In case we get separated.”

“Sure.” 

They walked outside the building together.  Carlos and Sarah had already gotten Joel to play tag with them.

Kurt watched them for a minute, and then said, “Six of us teenagers just took the five 8-year olds to the zoo two weeks ago.  It was a blast.  When school gets out we’ll probably do other things with them.  Carlos and Sarah are spending the night tonight and all of us are going out on the lake tomorrow.  Would you be interested in joining us?  Maybe could talk while the kids are playing.”

“I don’t want to impose.”

“It was my idea to go out tomorrow.  There’s room on the boat.”

“If you’re sure it’s okay, I’ll talk to Doug while we’re getting ice cream.”

“I’ll ask, just so you’ll feel like you’re not intruding.”  Kurt texted Paul, even thought they were standing just feet apart. 

Paul looked at him and nodded.

“It’s fine.” Kurt moved towards the three kids. “Who’s ready to go get ice cream?”

Joel looked at his mom and she nodded.  A big smile spread across his face.  “Me! Me! Me!” he chanted with the other two.  He ran up to his mom.  “I want to ride with Sarah and Carlos, please?”

Kurt chuckled. “We can play musical cars on the way over, if you want.  You can ride with us and Paul can ride with Doug.  Quinn and Judy can take the car back.”

She rolled her eyes, teasingly.  “Fine, fine. We’ll ride with them and Daddy can take Dave’s dad with him.”

“Yay!” Joel jumped up and down.

“Let’s get going then,” she said.

Quinn got in the front seat of the car and left with Judy.  Doug and Paul left together.  Kurt put the third row seat up and corralled the kids in and made sure they had their seat belts on.  Dave and Puck sat in the back and Sharla sat in the passenger seat. 

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Everyone got in line once they got to the ice cream shack.

“I’m starving,” Kurt said.

“So am I,” Quinn agreed.

“Split a coney dog with me?”

“Definitely.” She scooted closer to him and leaned back into him.  “We were good.”

He wrapped his arms around her.  “We were.  So was everyone.  It turned out really good.”

Paul said, “So, a coney dog and ?”

“One chocolate milkshake and one strawberry banana milkshake,” Kurt said.

Dave said, “Let’s go find an empty table if we can.”

“Sure,” Kurt said. “Does your mom know what you want?”

Quinn nodded.

“Okay.”  Kurt turned back to Joel and his family. “We’re going to go find a table.  Joel can come with us, if it’s okay.”

“Sure.”

“Puck go ahead with them.  I’ve got this,” Paul said.  “Just tell Judy what you want.”

“I’m good. You’ll need more than four hands to carry everything.”  He nudged Sarah and Carlos.  “Go with Kurt and get a table.”

The six of them headed off in search of a table.  They went around the side of the building only to be faced with a group of North Lima jocks.  They turned around and went back towards the building and around the other side.  There weren’t any empty places, so they just stood next to the building waiting for a table to empty so they could grab it.  A few minutes later, a family got up.  The six of them hurried over and sat down. 

“Do they have good ice cream here, Quinn?” Sarah asked.

“They do.  It’s my favorite place in Lima.”

Kurt said, “Ours too.”

“We don’t go to Lima very often.  If my mom wants to go shopping, we go to Toledo.”

Kurt laughed. “We go shopping in Toledo or Columbus usually.”

“I don’t know if I’ve been to Columbus before.  I don’t think so,” Joel said.

“It’s nice,” Sarah said.  “A lot bigger than Lima.  There’s more fun stuff to do like a zoo and museums and stuff.”

“It sounds like Toledo then,” he said.

“Maybe,” she responded.

A few minutes later, everyone started arriving with their desserts.  Judy put the drink carrier down and handed Quinn the coney dog that had already been cut in half.  Paul handed Judy’s ice cream cone to her and they sat down.  Dave passed Kurt his milkshake, put Quinn’s milkshake in front of her, and flattened the carrier once he took out his chocolate shake and Puck’s sundae.  Puck handed Sarah and Carlos their ice cream cones.

“How do the get the color on the tips of the ice cream?” Carlos asked.

“Magic,” Kurt said and winked.

Carlos tried it. “It’s good.”

Sharla and Doug walked up and gave Joel his ice cream cone and sat down with their own sundaes.

Judy said.  “The recital was just amazing.  Everyone did such a good job.”

“They really did,” Quinn said.  “It went really well.”

Sharla said,  “They should have the boys in the pairs class visit each of the classes that has any boys in it.  I think it might help them stick with it.”

“That would be a good suggestion to make to the dance school,” Judy said.

“It would,” Quinn agreed.  “Their coney dogs are so good.”

“I know you love them, and now you have the person to come here with since you can never manage to eat a whole one and I don’t like them.”

“She’s nuts,” Quinn said, teasingly.

Kurt laughed. “I think they’re delicious.” He stuffed the last of his half into his mouth.  “Mmm.”

Joel laughed at him. “My mommy says it’s not polite to stuff your mouth like that.”

Kurt chewed and swallowed.  “Your mom is right. It’s not polite.  My sincerest apologies for not being polite.”

That made Joel laugh at him even harder.  “You’re really funny.”

Kurt gave him his best “Who me?” look.

Sarah said, “Kurt is the funniest always.”

Puck pouted. “What about me, Sarah?”

“Nope.  Sorry, Noah.  Kurt’s funnier.  He can do the funny voices like he’s from somewhere else.”

“Eat your ice cream before drips on you, squirt.”

She licked it several times.  “Are you in third grade like us?”

Joel nodded his head.

The teens got the kids to focus and eat the ice cream before it melted.  Kurt texted Quinn and Puck to take the kids back to the grassy area to play for a little bit.  They convinced them to go play movie freeze tag.

Kurt and Dave scooted down.

Kurt said, “I know it’s getting late to keep the kids out.  Is there anything the two of you would like to ask us tonight?”

Doug said, “You said your dad was supportive of your non-traditional interests, but that he never talked to you about being gay and that was hard on you.”

“It was.  But I left out something.  My mom died when I was 8.  She had been very supportive and always went along with the things I said about finding a prince for myself and things like that when she read me fairy tales.  My dad never contradicted any of that, but he never actively encouraged it or supported it.  When she died, he let me be myself.  I’m imagining that it had to do with him promising her that he would. But although I knew he loved me, he grew up here where being homophobic was the norm.  He and I didn’t have much in common.  He did really do his best to support my interests, which I really appreciate.  But it would have made all the difference in the world to hear him say that it was okay to look for my prince or to even just say that it was okay to like boys because even as much as he loved me and I knew that he did, there was this part of me that was scared that if he knew I liked boys that he wouldn’t love me anymore.  That’s really scary for a kid.”

“So, my being indifferent about it is hurting him.”

“I’d say yes. When I asked him if he had told the two of you, he said that he had and that his mom was okay with it, but you not so much.  He’s already picking up on the fact that you’re not 100% thrilled about it.”

“I’m not.”

“Even those of us who are out and willing to have people know still struggle with the fact that we aren’t accepted by a lot of people.  It’s hard to be 100% thrilled about something that so many people hate you for.  And it’s even harder when the people who are supposed to love you don’t support you.  Dave can talk more to the issue of being rejected by a parent.”

“My mom just left.  She signed dissolution papers and signed away her parental rights and considers me to be dead. I was a momma’s boy for a long time.  She spoiled me rotten. When I realized that I was gay and I understood her beliefs, the whole situation felt like a ticking time bomb. I tried not to be gay.  I researched conversion therapy so that I could go voluntarily and learn to not be gay.  I wanted my mother to love me.  But eventually as I got older and saw my life going in the wrong direction, I came out.  A lot of people just stay in the closet.  If you want him to trust you, you’re going to have to make an effort to make sure he knows that you love him unconditionally.  Being gay is a lot less problematic than him growing up to be a terrible person who treats people terribly.  Him being gay is personal to him.  It really has nothing to do with you.  You had a kid.  He didn’t come with some kind of warranty to turn out to be what you wanted.  He could have been born without a hand.  Or blind.  Or a lot of other things.  And you would have done your best to help him live a fulfilling life.  And I’m not saying that being gay is a disability. I’m talking about him not being what you expected.  Him being born gay isn’t the end of the world unless you make it that way for him.  If you treat him differently because he’s gay, that’s on you, but he gets hurt by it.  It’s not a moral failing.  He probably still believes in Santa.  How can someone so young and innocent have some kind of deep moral sin?  It’s like telling him that loving puppies is wrong.  He’s not going to understand that, but it will make him feel terrible about himself.  Trust me.  Listening to my mother call gay people evil and sinful and wrong was really hard on me because praying and begging for it to go away didn’t work.  I literally heard about God’s forgiveness for pretty much every sin imaginable, but being gay was a one-way ticket to hell.”

“That’s intense,” Sharla said.  “We’re not religious, so he’s not hearing that kind of thing.”

“You’d be surprised,” Kurt said.  “I wasn’t much older than he is when the kids started calling me fairy and princess and girly names.  I ignored them, but just as you’ve seen today, a lot of kids his age have older siblings who talk about things when they’re around.  Adults felt the need to tell me about my lost soul and how I needed to repent from my sinful desires so I wouldn’t burn in hell when I didn’t even know what they were talking about.  My parents didn’t take me to church, so I didn’t hear it there, but other kids went and shared their ‘enlightenment’ with the other kids.”

“I hadn’t considered that,” Doug said.

“I don’t think anyone really knows how to be a parent now that I’m getting closer to being old enough to be one.  I think about our friend Sam.  His parents were 19 when they had him.  That’s like a year and a half older than I am.  I don’t feel like I know anywhere near enough to be a parent.  But the one thing I do know is that growing up wondering whether your parents love you or not based on something you didn’t choose to be is hard.  Sarah lives with her grandma.  Puck lives with Paul.  Their mother is in jail.  Their father vanished five years ago.  Kids don’t get to choose their parents, but their parents chose to have them.  The best advice I can give you is to make sure he knows that you love him whether he wants to be a ballet dancer or an electrician – that his career choice, his hobbies, and the fact that he’s gay play no role whatsoever in your love for him.”

Dave added, “If you had a kid to get a clone of yourself, it doesn’t work that way.  Don’t make him feel like a disappointment his whole life.  That’s a terrible way to grow up.  Ask Puck how it feels to try to answer Sarah’s questions about why her mom and dad don’t love her.”

“God, that’s heartbreaking,” Sharla said. 

“I’ll be right back,” Doug said.  He got up and walked out to where the kids and teens were play.  He picked Joel up and carried him away from the group. “Don’t worry.  You can play again in a minute.”

“Okay, Daddy. What did you want to tell me?”

Doug maneuvered him until he was out flat like an airplane.  Joel stuck his arms out and let Doug fly him over to the table. He put him back down on the ground when they reached the table.  He sat down and patted the picnic bench for Joel to sit down.

“I wanted to tell you what a good job you did this afternoon at your recital.”

“Really?”

“Really.  You were great.  Big and strong and doing those jumps.  That was impressive.”

“Thanks.  I worked really hard on our dance.”

“I could tell. You did it way better than I ever could.”

Joel smiled proudly. “Why did you want me to come over here?”

“Well, I wanted you to meet Dave’s parents before we leave in a little while.”

“I’m Judy.”

“I’m Paul.”

“You already know I’m Joel.  I’m supposed to say, ‘It’s nice to meet you.’ Right, Mommy?”

“Yes.  That’s the right thing to say.”

“Are you having fun?” Sharla asked.

“Lots of fun. Except I think that Noah and Quinn might be cheating because they keep naming movies we’ve never heard of.”

Kurt laughed. “Could be, but I bet they’re just movies for big kids and adults.”

“Maybe…  I think Kurt and Dave should come play with us instead of sitting here and talking.”

“Sure,” Dave said. 

“I’ll be right there,” Kurt said, as they ran off.

Doug said, “I have a lot to think about.  Just one sentence from me about his dance and he lit up like a Christmas tree.  I need to figure myself out.  It’s hard to just flip a switch and be okay that he’s gay.”

“What is wrong with him being gay?” Paul asked.  “I think that’s where you need to start.  It’s no reflection on who you are.  It’s no reflection on your parenting skills.  It’s like him being a good dancer.  You just said that you aren’t.  He’s not a carbon copy of you or Sharla.  He’s himself.  And you have to figure out why you don’t think that’s good enough.”

Doug nodded.

“I just want to ask if you okay with Joel knowing that Carlos is gay.  I’m going to call his mom first and get her permission as well.  But I thought I’d ask you first.”

Sharla looked at Doug. He nodded.

“Okay.  I’ll go call Carlos’ mom.”  Kurt ran off towards the others.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Nope, no homework,” Kurt said, as they walked into the house.  He carried the garment bag to the laundry room.  “I do have to decide whether to fool with these now or later, though.”

Dave followed him, but stopped in the kitchen.  He looked at the stove.  “Well, it’s 10:00.”

“I’ll just do it now.” He took the pieces out and washed them on gentle in cold water.  “Will you dance with me?”

“Of course.” Dave went to the studio.

Kurt plugged his phone into the dock and started some slow music.  Dave stepped closer.  Kurt smiled and reached out for him.  They stepped together and danced around the room.  After a few songs, they were kissing more than they were dancing, but they were still swaying in time with the music.

“You were incredible today.  I loved watching you. And the outfits you made were stunning.  You’re just so amazing.”

Kurt struggled with how to respond, but managed to say, “Thank you.” 

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They stopped by Puck’s room on the way up to their room. 

“Hey.”

“Did you get them to go to sleep?”

“Finally.  I had them shower and then I sang to them so they would calm down.  They’re both really excited about going to the lake tomorrow.  What’s with you inviting a kid and his parents out with us afterwards?”

“I also invited Carlos’ parents to the lake.  They’ll be here to go with us.  And Joel and his parents too.”

“Is Joel gay?”

Kurt nodded. “His parents know.  But he doesn’t actually tell people because he’s just now understanding that he’s in the minority.”

“Like Carlos then?”

“Yeah.  At this age, kids don’t know anything about sex. It’s not about sexual attraction. It’s romantic attraction and the kind of things in Disney movies.  Wanting to meet someone to love for the rest of your life and stuff.  And just like you couldn’t explain why you thought girls were cute at their age, he can’t explain why he thinks boys are cute.”

“I get it.  How did you find out?”

“He told me after he saw me and Dave holding hands.  He first talked about the recital and then he noticed us holding hands and he told me secretly.”

“Alright.  I’ll keep it to myself.”

“We’ll see you in the morning.”

“Yeah.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“You’re gorgeous.” Dave stopped talking and moaned as Kurt began to massage his scalp and wash his hair.  His inability to talk, didn’t keep his hands from wandering. 

Kurt rinsed his hair. “And you are incredibly hot.”

“When we get out, I’m going to give you a massage.  All that dancing today and then running around-”

Kurt interrupted him, “Sounds amazing.”

 [][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“A week of school, and then finals, and then we’re done for the year,” Kurt said.  He scooted closer to Dave.  “I’m ready for summer, even though it just means working in the shop all day.  At least I don’t have to come home and spend so much time on schoolwork, except that I do need to start studying to get my certifications as an adult. I’m going to call and set up my tests on my birthday.”

“ON your birthday?”

“Yep.  I’m going to take the day off and take the tests. I want to get it done as soon as I can.  We can do something fun afterwards.”

“Okay.”

“You know you can disagree with me, right?”

“Umm hmm.”  Dave kissed along his ear and neck and down to his shoulder.  “If I had already planned something concrete for that day, I would ask you to do it another day, but I can still make plans with you.  You’re not going to the moon for 10 years. It’s a day of tests.  Not a big deal.  I love you and you love me and if I said, please do it a different day, I know you would.”

“You’re right.” Kurt nudged Dave onto his back and practically lay on top of him.  “You’re super comfy.”

Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt’s back to hold him in place.  “I’m glad you think so.”

“I can hear your heartbeat.”  Kurt’s voice was fading out.  “I love you.”

“I love you too, Fancy, so much.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next morning, Kurt and Dave were in the kitchen cooking breakfast when Judy arrived.

“Good morning, you two.”

“Good morning,” they replied in unison.

“It smells good in here.”

“We’re making blueberry muffins and Puck already made cupcakes,” Kurt said.

“We cooked the pork overnight in the crockpot.  We took it out first and shredded it and added the spices, so it’s good to go.”

“Well, I have the buns for that here.  And the hot dogs and hot dog buns.  What else needs done?”

“There’s fruit to chop for the fruit salad,” Kurt pointed to a bag of fruit on the counter.

“I’ll get busy working on that.”  She moved the fruit to the sink and washed it, and then laid it in the dish drain.  Once she finished washing all of it, she dried it off, moved it to the counter, and pulled out the cutting board.  “Are the kids up?”

“Yeah,” Dave said. “We’re cooking for them too. They’re watching TV in Puck’s room.”

They finished up what they were working on.  Kurt texted Puck and a few minutes, later, he came down.

“Where’s Sarah and Carlos?”

“Too busy to come down,” Puck said imitating Sarah.

“Grab the tray and carry their food up.  I’ll follow you with your plate.”  A few minutes later, they were on their way upstairs with everything.

“Dave, honey.”

“Yeah?”

“I want to tell you something and I want to give you time to think about it, so don’t think I’m asking for an answer right now.”

“Okay.”

“When your dad and I get married, I would like to adopt you.  I know you’re almost grown, and that your biological mother is alive. But think about it, okay, honey? I’d very much like to be your mother.”

All Dave could do was nod.

“You can think about it.”

He nodded and went back to plating his and Kurt’s food.  “There’s plenty left for you and Dad.  I’ll get him to come down and eat.”  Dave texted Paul.

He came right down. “Hey, sweetie, I didn’t know you were here.”  He kissed Judy.

“I started helping with the food.  I figured you heard me come in.”

“I must have just been finishing up in the shower.  I didn’t hear the door open.  This looks good.  Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Dave took his and Kurt’s plates to the table.

Judy and Paul joined him a couple of minutes later.  Kurt came back downstairs and sat down as well.  The four of them ate without much talking.  When they finished, they put the dishes in the dishwasher.

“What else needs done?” Paul asked.

“Mostly we need all of the refrigerated stuff to get packed in the cooler,” Dave said.

“I’ll go get the cooler, then.”

Judy went back to working on the fruit salad.

“I need to go finished getting dressed,” Kurt said.  “I’ll be back down.  The bowl for that is in the lower cabinet you’re standing in front of.”

“Okay.”

Dave looked confused and followed Kurt upstairs.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“We’re already dressed to go,” Dave said, as Kurt shut the door behind them and locked it.

“I needed to leave the kitchen.”  He looked down and then raised his eyebrows.  “You’re so hot when you’re in the kitchen.  I’m all worked up and I needed to leave before my situation became an embarrassing situation.”

“Oh.  You think me cooking is hot?”

“Always, but especially so today.”

“Why?”

“I have no idea, but God, I had to leave before I started get inappropriately close to you with another person in the room.”

“I can help you with your situation.”

“Be my guest.” Kurt pressed him into the wall next to the door and kissed him passionately.  “I’m all yours.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“You put pants on,” Judy said.

“Yeah, I decided I wanted to go hiking around and I prefer pants for that.  Plus, I always get chilly on the boat unless it’s hot out and it’s not.  It’s lay-out-in-the-hammock-in-shorts weather, but not wear-shorts-on-the-boat weather yet.”

She just smiled. 

“I like your outfit.”

“I almost always wear dresses or skirts, but the boat isn’t a good place for them a lot of the time, so I decided to give these a try.”

“I’m not sure whether their gaucho pants or culottes.  They’re halfway in between, but whatever they are technically, they’re very flattering.  I like that asymmetrical cut where the center is longer.  It gives them a really fun feeling.”

“I liked them because they still have the comfort of a skirt, but more flexibility of not having to worry whether it’s windy or needing to sit lady-like all the time. And they look good with the shirts I tend to wear.  And they have pockets.”

“Always a bonus.”

Dave and Paul came back in from loading stuff in the back of the Navigator. 

Kurt said, “It’s too bad Sam’s family went to Kentucky for the weekend.  Stevie and Stacey had a lot of fun the last time.”

“Let’s get the rest of this stuff out there.  We need to get going,” Paul said.

Kurt and Dave helped carry everything else out.  Judy went upstairs to get Puck and the kids.  Ten minutes later, the three teens and the two kids were in the Navigator, with everything loaded in the cargo area and Paul and Judy were in Paul’s truck.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sharla, Doug, and Joel arrived just a few minutes after Silvia and Gabriel. 

Kurt told Silvia that he hadn’t come up with a way to tell Carlos.  She took him aside for a few minutes and told him under the guise of him helping her carry the food she brought from the car. 

Introductions were made and everyone started to unload the food after Kurt and Dave got the tablecloths on.  It didn’t take long to get everything get set up.

It was a little awkward at first because no one really knew what to say, but the kids saved the day by starting to talk about the recital the day before after Carlos started to tell his parents about it.  After that, the conversation picked up and everyone started to relax.

Dave, Kurt, and Paul got the boat launched and the truck reparked.  Everyone packed up the food to keep it from spoiling.  Puck took the kids to the port-a-potties out in the parking area and put their life vests on when they came out.  Everyone boarded the boat and they cruised out into the open water.

The parents sat at the back of the boat talking to each other.  The kids and teens sat at the front.  The three kids were sitting on their knees on the padded benches looking out into the water.

Carlos was the first to bring the topic up.  “My mom says that you like boys just like me and Dave and Kurt.”

Joel nodded. “Until yesterday, I didn’t know any other boys that liked boys.”

“Until I met Kurt and Dave last summer, I didn’t either.  But I never met anyone my age before.”

“People tease me because I go to ballet class, but Kurt told me to ignore them.  It’s hard though.”

“I didn’t see your dance, but I think Kurt’s right.  Being able to dance is cool.”

“You think so?”

“I do.  Kurt and Quinn’s stuff was super cool.  When you get as big as Kurt, you could do stuff like that.  I went downstairs to get a drink last night and I saw him and Dave dancing in the living room. Boys can dance with boys too.”

Sarah said, “I think it’s cool if boys learn to dance.”

“My dad told me it was last night.  He told me my dance was really good.  That made me happy.  I thought maybe he didn’t like it that I danced since it’s usually my mom that talks about it, but he said that it’s cool.  He showed me some pictures of really famous dancers that are men. He said he’d find some videos for us to watch together.”

Sarah asked, “Do you like getting to go on the boat, Carlos?”

“It’s cool. I’ve never been on a boat before.”

Joel said, “Me neither.  I like it.”

“It’s fun when it super hot because you can get in the lake and swim.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They only stayed out on the lake for a couple of hours because the kids started to get restless without the ability to get in the water and swim.  They all headed back to the Karofsky’s.  They set up the badminton net and the croquet course.  Later, they set up the leftovers for a light dinner before the Garcias took Carlos and Sarah back to Columbus and the Wrights headed back to Findlay. 

Once everyone left, Kurt and Dave put the yard games back in the garage and got the hammock out and snuggled up.  Puck left for a while. Paul and Judy condensed the leftovers down to smaller bowls and cleaned everything up.

Kurt and Dave ended up falling asleep in the hammock.  They woke up about an hour later.  They found a note on the kitchen table that said that Paul wouldn’t be back until late.  They hung the hammock on the nails in the garage and went upstairs.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The first thing Kurt did when he went in the room was to take his shirt off and throw it into the laundry.  Dave shut and locked the door behind him and followed Kurt into the closet.  Kurt was already mostly undressed when Dave stepped in. Kurt left his boxer briefs on and grabbed a clean pair from the drawer and went into the bathroom.  Dave followed behind him.

“So, what’s the plan?”

“Well, we could read in our underwear.”  Kurt turned the water on.

“Mmm hmm.”

Once it was warm enough, he undressed the rest of the way and got in.  “We could listen to music in our underwear.”

“Okay.”  Dave followed him in and grabbed Kurt’s shampoo.

“We could dance together in our underwear.”

He lathered Kurt’s hair.  “Alright.”

“We could snuggle on the bed in our underwear.”

“I’m sensing a pattern here,” Dave teased.  “We can do anything I want – in our underwear.”  Dave rinsed Kurt’s hair.

“That sounds perfect. So, what will it be?”

“How about some things that we don’t need our underwear for?”  Dave kissed him.

“Your alternate plan seems to have some merit.” Kurt kissed him back.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt closed his book and straddled Dave’s lap.  Dave moved his book and laughed.

“I take it that we’re done reading.”

“You can keep reading, but I can’t focus on my book with you looking so cute sitting here.”

“I’m not doing anything but reading.”

“I know.”  Kurt leaned down and kissed him.  “I’ll scoot back over and let you read.” He started to slide over.

Dave wrapped his arms around him to hold him in place.  “You’re fine right where you are.  Do you want to watch a movie and cuddle instead of read?”

“Could we?”

“Of course.”

There was a knock at the door.

“Just a second,” Kurt called out.  He grabbed pajama pants as he walked past the dresser and threw a pair to Dave.  They slipped them on and Kurt opened the door.

“Oh, sorry.  I can just come back later.”

“Why?  We were reading, but we were getting ready to watch a movie.”

“You’re in your pajamas.”

“Yeah, cause we already showered.  We didn’t want to put clothes on for a couple of hours for no real reason.”  Kurt sat back down on the futon with Dave.

“Makes sense.”

“What’s up?”

Puck plopped on the floor and leaned against the blanket chest at the end of the bed.  He pulled his knees up and propped his forehead on his arms on top of his knees.  He took a deep breath and let it out before he sat back up.  “The Garcias have offered to adopt Sarah. They love her and are willing to make it official and everything.”

“Oh, wow. That’s hard,” Kurt said. “What does your nana think?”

“She isn’t opposed or overly in favor.  She wants to know what I think.  On the one hand, they could take care of her better than I can.  And it would give her a chance to have a normal life with a mom and a dad.  But then she’d be theirs and not mine.”

“Will they not let you spend time with her?”

“Actually, the offered to let me finish out the bonus room above their garage and let me live there too.  I can turn it into an efficiency apartment.  It’s already got the plumbing lines to have a bathroom put in there.  I could live there and go to school next year and then go to trade school or college, but I wouldn’t have to be the one caring for Sarah.”

“It sounds perfect,” Dave said.  “What’s making you hesitate?”

“Trust.  I don’t have much.  Your dad has shown me that some adults can be trusted and I do trust them with Sarah.  She already spends a lot of time with them.  It’s just weird to think she would be theirs.  She’d have a new last name.  A Hispanic last name and Gabriel’s family is Catholic, even though he’s not really religious.  But they said I could still take Sarah to temple and that they would let her celebrate any religious holidays with me.  They said they wouldn’t try to convert her.”

“Not to be really nosy, but can they afford to take care of her?”

“Yeah.  Gabriel is a physical therapist and Silvia is a nurse, but she only works during school hours from like 8-2 or something. They have plenty of money, but they grew up poor, so they’re not the types to waste money.  They’re teaching Carlos to be frugal, she says. They have a 3-bedroom house with a family room, which is where Carlos has his massive Lego collection. So, Sarah would have her own room.”

“It sounds like a great idea, but it’s a huge change,” Kurt said.

“I know.  I want to do right by her.  I just wish knowing what was right was easier. They haven’t said anything to her or Carlos.  They won’t until after they get an answer from Nana.”

“I think you should talk to my dad.  All I can say is that I don’t know what I would do in your shoes, but I guess I’d lean towards letting them adopt her since they’re going to let you continue to be in her life.”

Kurt said, “It’s a hard situation.  Adoption is permanent. I think the only way you could get her back would be if they mistreat her.”

“Which isn’t likely since they’re really good people,” Puck said.  “I want a family for her.  She’s young enough that if she goes now, she can have that – a mom and a dad who care and want her.  It’s what I’ve wanted in theory, but now that it’s a real possibility, I feel like holding on tight and not letting her go.”

“That makes sense,” Kurt said.  “She and your nana are all you have left, but the Garcias aren’t pushing you away.  Letting you turn their bonus room into a studio apartment seems like a really great compromise.  You could see Sarah, but she’d still be able to bond with them.  And then in a few years when you finish your degree, you can move out and make your own way knowing that she has a family to care for her.  If you go to trade school, when you graduate, she’d just be starting the 7thgrade or high school if you go to a 4-year college.”

“I know.  I thought about all of that.  Or that if they adopt her, I could go to college anywhere I could get in because I wouldn’t have to be stuck in Columbus. I could go anywhere.”

“That’s true. You’re grades are great and I’m sure you could get in wherever you want.”

“Why does this have to be so hard?”  He put his head back down on his arms.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After they all three watched a movie, Puck went back down to his room.  Kurt and Dave pulled the covers back, and got in bed.  They fluffed their pillows and lay in the center of the bed.  Dave reached out and took Kurt’s hand.  They lay silent for a while, hands intertwined.

Finally, Dave began to share what was on his mind.  “This is so weird to talk about after Puck telling us that stuff.”

“What?”

“This morning when you brought the food upstairs, Judy told me that when she and my dad get married that she wants to adopt me.  And my dad is going to adopt Quinn if she agrees to it.”

“Oh, wow.  What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

“She told me that I could think about it.”

“What do you think?”

“It’s kind of weird, but really sweet.  It’s more symbolic than anything because unless they get married before I turn 18, there isn’t really any point in doing it after I turned 18, other than her wanting to show me that she accepts me as her son.  Like I said, it’s sweet.  It hurts too though that someone who’s only known me for a year and a half would care enough about me to want to do it when my own mother considers me dead to her.”

“Have you made up your mind?”

“90% of the way. I think I’ll end up agreeing to it.  Can you think of a reason that I should turn her down?”

“Not really.  If Quinn agrees, you’ll be brother and sister.”

“I don’t know what she’ll think of the idea.  I need to get my head in the game for the end of the school year now though. We’re going to New York in five days and we have finals when we get back.”

“So, snuggles for now and more deep thought later?”

“Exactly.”

Kurt turned on his side and made silly kissy noises.

Dave chuckled silently and turned on his side and kissed him.  He rolled back onto his back.  Kurt snuggled into his side and laid his head on Dave’s chest. He wrote I – heart – U with his index finger on Dave’s chest.

“I love you too,” Dave said.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The week was crammed full of extra rehearsals before school and evenings of studying, they didn’t have time for much of anything else. 

Friday morning the New Directions arrived before school and loaded the school bus.  They pulled out at 6:02 to make the one hour, 15 minute drive to Toledo.  Once they were there, they all got in line.  The inexpensive flight they were taking only allowed carry-on bags for free and suitcases had a surcharge.  Mr. Schue checked the three suitcases they had with their costumes in them and they all went through security with their carry-on bags with their personal items. 

By the time they had all made it through, they had about an hour to wait before their flight would start the boarding process.  Some of them tried to sleep.  Others surfed the internet. 

Azimio plopped down next to Kurt.  “Your new work schedule sucks, dude.”

Kurt looked up, confused.

“You started working every day after school back at the end of March after spring break.  Now, we got no double or triple dates going on and it sucks.”

Dave teased him. “What I hear Z saying is that we haven’t been getting together on Mondays and eating treats that you bake.”

“Ahh,” Kurt said. “Well, school’s almost out and this summer, I’ll get off at 4:00, if I go in at 7:30.”

“I’m working for my brother again.  I could get off at 4:00 one day a week.  It’s so much better to go to the movies when they’re $5.  Going after 5:00 makes them $10.”

“I agree.  We haven’t been to the movies in a long time, but _Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides_ opens tonight.  Since next weekend we don’t have ballet, maybe we could go before noon and still get the $5 tickets.”

“That sounds like a plan.”

Mercedes finally got up and followed him.  “What sounds like a plan?”

“Going to see the new _Pirates of the Caribbean_ movie next Saturday morning.”

“Count me in,” she said.

Kurt said, “We’ll look up the show times once they’re posted for next weekend and finalize the plan.”

“I’m so excited!” Mercedes said.  “New York City, here we come!”

“I love it there,” Kurt said enthusiastically.  “There’s just so much to do all the time.  One more year and that’s where I’m going to be – somehow.  I just have to get into a school there. That’s the final hurdle.”

“I have no idea what I want to do,” Mercedes said.  “Well, that’s not exactly true.  The dream is to get a recording contract.  I need to get my act together and figure out how to get there from here.”

“My dream is to get a job that I can do and go home and not do it at home.  My home.  A place of my own.  Maybe a tiny little house, but a place that’s mine.  I’m sick of going to school all day and then going home to do schoolwork for hours every evening when most of the stuff I have to remember is completely useless.  I’m never going to write an essay after I get out of school.  No one can see whether I’m saying ‘their’, ‘they’re’ or ‘there’ when I’m talking.  One more year and goodbye homework.”

“You and me both,” Mercedes said.  “I want to sing, not calculate the angles on triangles or write a paper on some book I didn’t want to read.”

“I’m hoping that college is about learning things I want to know, not learning more things I don’t want to know,” Kurt said.

“Well, either way, it’s not for me,” Azimio said.  “At least not now.  Maybe some day I’ll find something I’m just dying to know more about or there will be some job I just have to have and I’ll go to school for it then.”

“That does makes sense,” Kurt agreed.  “College is so expensive that going for the sake of going doesn’t make much sense.  If you decide you want or need to go later, you can.”

They sat around talking until their flight number was finally called to board.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

As soon as they arrived, they headed to the theater where they would be performing for their 20-minute rehearsal slot.  They had filmed themselves in the auditorium at school and sent it in so that the lighting crew could work on pre-sets.  And the band provided was ready to play for all of the groups. They changed into their performance shoes and took the stage.  A few things needed tweaked, and they went through their songs again before their time was up.  They changed their shoes back and headed to the hotel, which was just down the street. 

Once they checked in, they took their bags up to their rooms.  They had a roll-away brought into the room allowing Kurt, Dave, Puck, Azimio, and Sam to room together when Finn claimed he was too tall to share a bed with anyone.  Finn, Mike, and Artie were in the second room.  The girls were in a slightly larger room together with two roll-aways.

Mr. Schue didn’t give them any instructions other than telling them when he was bringing dinner. They left their bags behind and headed out of the hotel.  They went to Times Square, Central Park, and to look at Broadway.  They managed to talk their way into seeing the _Wicked_ stage.  Everyone knew that Kurt and Rachel knew all of the songs and they encouraged the two of them to stand in the stage and sing.  The usher that had let them in just stood back and pretended like nothing was happening and told them they had five minutes. Kurt and Rachel belted out an amazing a cappella rendition of “For Good.”  The rest of the group clapped for them, as did the usher. They left quickly and went back to the hotel.

Once they were back, they wandered around for a while, and were all in the girls’ room talking about what they had been told when Mr. Schuester finally returned.

He opened the door and let himself in carrying a stack of pizzas.  “Alright, guys.  Who’s up for some real New York City pizza?”  He noticed the glum looks and stopped talking.

“We heard,” Quinn said.

“Heard what?”

Mercedes answered, “About you leaving to be on Broadway.”

He sat the pizzas down on the nearby table.  “Look, I haven’t made up my mind about anything.”

Kurt said, “We get it, and we’re happy for you.”

“You’ve inspired us in so many ways.  This is just another,” Rachel added.

He looked around the room.  “I don’t understand. Who told you guys?”

Tina answered, “Goolsby.”

Mike asked, “Are you okay, Mr. Schue?”

“I had my moment on that stage, and it was glorious, but we have some unfinished business to take care of before I make any final decisions.”  He changed the tone of his voice to one of enthusiasm. “Now, get up here and help me eat this pizza.”

Everyone got up. Finn grabbed a couple of boxes and moved them to another table and Mercedes grabbed one and opened it on the end of the bed.  They all took slices and started to eat.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next day, they all wandered down to the hotel breakfast whenever they got up.  Some of them left the hotel for a while and came back before noon when they were meeting up to go to the theater.  They changed their clothes and they put their shoes in the suitcase that had wheels and headed down to do their make up and put on their final touches.

Rachel ran into Sunshine in the bathroom.  She was upset and throwing up. 

“What’s wrong?”

Sunshine responded, “I used to love singing.  It was the only thing that relaxed me.  Now I hate it.”

Rachel just stared at her.

“What did I ever do to you to make you hate me so much?  When I came to your school, I heard the Glee Club was where kids went when no one else would take them – a safe place.  For some reason, you made me the only one who wasn’t safe there.”  She turned and walked away.

“Wait. Where are you going?”

“To the Philippine embassy.  I’m going to beg them to revoke my Visa and deport me back home.  That’s the only way I’m going to be able to escape Vocal Adrenaline.”

A flash of understanding crossed Rachel face.  She flashed back to what had happened with Jesse and how he had been forced into the actions he had taken the year before by an adult in a position of leadership, who abused that leadership. 

“What has Goolsby done to make you want to leave the country?”

“I can’t talk about it.”

“You’re good.”

“What?”

“It’s because you’re good.  That’s why I hated you and sent you to that crack house.  I’m sorry.”  She stepped closer.  She pushed Sunshine’s bangs to the side.  Her attitude changed to support.  “You have to go out there and sing.  You have a gift.  Something that Dustin Goolsby would kill for.”

“I can’t.  I feel like I’m going to barf all over the stage.”

“If you feel like you’re going to throw up, just look at me, and I’ll help you through it.”

“Why?  Don’t you want to win?”

Rachel nodded, but conceded.  “I do, but not because you gave up.  You’re amazing.  And you should go out there and show everyone just how amazing you are.  I’m really sorry.  I should have welcomed you to our motley crew of misfits when you came.  I was jealous.  You know the group kicked me out for what I did to you?  They eventually let me rejoin this semester after I got down off my pedestal.  Listen to the song I’m going to sing.  It was inspired by what I learned.  I’m sorry I learned something in a way that caused you so much hurt.  Can I hug you?”

Sunshine nodded.

Rachel hugged her quickly.  “Go out there and blow everyone away.  You’ve got this.”

Sunshine nodded.

Rachel returned to the audience and took her seat with the rest of the New Directions.  Vocal Adrenaline was up next.  Sunshine took her place on the stage alone. She looked around and found Rachel in the audience, who gave her a thumbs up. 

The music started and Sunshine’s voice soared out into the auditorium.  And Rachel had a huge smile on her face.

Dave nudged Kurt, who saw Paul and Judy come in and sit down at the end of their row.  Kurt smiled and nudged Quinn.  She saw them and smiled too.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Everyone moved into position on the stage.  Rachel stood at the front.  Kurt and Quinn and Mike and Brittany were ready along the sides.  Rachel looked out as the curtain raised and saw Jesse sitting with Mr. Schue.  Her face lit up and she began to sing.  They performed “Get it Right” even better than they had at Regionals. 

When it ended, Quinn and Brittany quickly slipped the shoes on the other girls were wearing and came right back out on stage with the other girls as part of the choreography for “Loser Like Me”.  They had tightened up the choreography and made a lot of improvements since Regionals. 

They moved seamlessly into “Light it Up”.  The audience was clapping and cheering about halfway through the song and when they finished they were greeted with thunderous applause.

They went back and sat in the audience.  Paul and Judy stood to let them back down the row. 

Judy squeezed Quinn’s hand.  “You did great, sweetie.”

She smiled and kept moving. 

Judy patted Kurt and Dave on the shoulders when they walked past.  “You guys were great.”

“Thanks,” Kurt said, as they quickly filed past and into their seats.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

During the dinner break, everyone got up and stretched.  Quinn, Kurt, and Dave moved out to the aisle where they could talk to Paul and Judy.

Quinn hugged Judy. “This a surprise.  Why didn’t you tell us you were coming?”

“It wouldn’t have been a surprise then, would it?”

Paul asked, “What happens now?”

Kurt answered, “We wait around until 5:00 for them to post the 10 choirs that will be featured in the Showcase, which starts at 6:00.”

“So what did you go see yesterday?” Judy asked.

Dave said, “We just wandered around really.  We went to Times Square, to see Broadway, and to Central Park.”

Paul said, “Mr. Schue didn’t arrange for some type of field trip to a museum or something?”

“We didn’t even see him until dinner last night,” Kurt said.

Judy looked confused. “What do you mean, honey?  You all were just walking around the city unsupervised?”

They all nodded.

“Who else is here chaperoning?  I didn’t see any teachers I recognized,” she said.

Quinn answered, “There aren’t any other teachers with us.  Just Mr. Schue.”

“Are there dinner plans, sweetie?”

“Not that I know of. He brought us pizza last night, but we were on our own for lunch yesterday and today.  The hotel had a continental breakfast.”

“I see,” Paul said rather solemnly.  “Where is Mr. Schue?”

“I’m not sure,” Quinn said.  “Maybe in the lobby? That’s where they’ll put the top 10 list up at 5:00.”

“It’s 4:30 right now, so we just have 30 minutes to wait,” Judy said after she checked her watch. She sat back down.

Kurt said, “I’m going to run and use the restroom.  I’m sure the lines are huge and I want to be out in time to see the list go up.”

“That’s a good idea,” Quinn said.

Dave followed them out.

Once they were out of earshot, Paul said, “I can’t even begin to imagine how many laws Mr. Schuester has broken.  He has 14 students here by himself, and then he’s just let them run around New York City with no supervision whatsoever.  I know that we let Kurt and Dave do things together during the daytime, but if Mr. Schue hasn’t been watching them, who’s to say that none of them went out last night?  Most of them are 17.”

Judy closed her eyes and took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  “And he has the nerve to waste some of these kids’ only trip to New York City ever by not planning to visit some of the sites.  At least they had the sense to go out and see some of them even though it was against educational law for them to go out unchaperoned.  At least they won’t go back only having seen the inside of a hotel room and this theater.”

“I don’t know what to do.  We had plans for tomorrow, but I can’t in good conscience just let all these kids run around the city unsupervised.  But neither of us is an approved chaperone for this trip either and if one of them gets hurt while we’re with them, there could be trouble for us.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt went with Santana to look at the board. 

“We’re in,” she said, as they came back.  “We’re in the Showcase.”

Mr. Schue said, “There’s a room this way with snacks set up for the Showcase participants since there’s not enough time to go eat and come back before the Showcase.”

Everyone followed Mr. Schue.

They performed fifth in the Showcase and sat in the auditorium to watch the second half. After all of the groups had performed, there was a 15-minute break while the scores were tallied.  The announcer came back to the stage and announced places 4-10.  The New Directions came in 4thplace.  It was bittersweet.  They had hoped to win, but knew they didn’t really have any hope of doing so. The top three groups assembled on stage.  Vocal Adrenaline won for the 9thyear in a row.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“We did our best and that’s all we can ask of ourselves,” Kurt said when they were all sitting around in the girls’ room later that evening.  “Carmel is a huge school.  They have like four times as many students as we do.  Plus, people pay to go to Carmel just to be in Vocal Adrenaline.  So, they have all of Akron to get members from.”

“Yeah,” Santana said. “Girls actually ask their parents to figure out a way to live in our district to be on the Cheerios. Once a team gets a winning reputation like that, they get even more really talented people in their group. We don’t have enough guys with that type of dance skills to even have that many on the Cheerios.  It’s not normal to have that many guys who can dance and lift in one school.”

Rachel said, “Unless they ban that gymnastics-like stuff that they do, they’ll keep winning. But I agree with Kurt.  We did our best and coming in 4thplace out of the best 50 choirs in the country is nothing to be ashamed of.”

“So, we decided on the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty tomorrow,” Tina said. “And then the High Line for a while and some shopping on the way back.  We have to be back here at 3:00.  And we have to take our stuff with us or check it in at the front desk to be held until we get back.”

“Alright,” Santana said.  “All the guys out. Go to sleep.  We’re leaving at 8:00 from the lobby.  If you’re not there, we’re leaving you behind.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

At 2:45 the next afternoon, Kurt, Dave, and Quinn were in the lobby with Paul and Judy.  Mr. Schue came to meet them, as requested.

Paul spoke. “We’re taking the three of them with us.  We already changed their plane tickets to go back on our flight.  Here’s a notarized copy of the written notice that I’m giving you to take them with us.  I don’t want any trouble later about them not returning to the school with the group.”  He handed Mr. Schuester a tri-folded sheet of paper.  “I’ll keep a copy for my records as well.  They’ll be at school tomorrow afternoon.  I’ve already spoken with Principal Harrison as well.”

The five of them left the hotel together.


	31. Chapter 31

Paul stopped walking a little ways down the street from the hotel entrance. The five of them stood on the sidewalk out of the way as much as possible.

“Why did you change our flight?” Dave asked.

“We’ll explain when we get somewhere that’s easier to talk to each other.  For now, I just want to make sure you’re ready to walk to the subway.”

They put their backpacks on properly and adjusted them.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They arrived in White Plains about an hour later.  When they got off the train, Paul and Judy led them to a car they had rented. 

Paul checked his watch before he pulled out of the parking lot.  “So, we have a lot to tell you.  We’ve been doing a lot of things behind the scenes that we haven’t talked to you about in order to get to the point we’re at today where we can begin to discuss them with you.  We know that Kurt and Dave are planning to go to college here in New York and that Quinn wants to go to Yale or another East Coast school, if she doesn’t get into Yale.”

Judy continued. “We know that McKinley isn’t providing you three with a very good education and that we have to find another educational option for Dave for math and science and for Kurt for languages for next school year.  We also know that despite your valiant efforts to change the school, there are still struggles.”

“You should also know up front that Mr. Schuester will most likely not be returning to McKinley in the fall.”

“He said he’s considering taking a role on Broadway,” Quinn said.  “Is that what you are referring to?”

“If he has that option, he should take it,” Judy said.  “But no, that’s not what I am referring to.  Bringing 14 students to New York City without an additional chaperone and allowing them to roam the city unaccompanied is a violation of several laws.  His contract will most likely not be renewed.”

“Oh,” Quinn said. “I guess I hadn’t thought about it that way.”

“Miss Pillsbury took us to Sectionals last year by herself, so I guess we just never thought about it,” Kurt said.

Paul said, “Anyway, Judy and I have been doing a lot of talking and researching.  We came to stay here over spring break to do research.  The colleges that Dave and Kurt liked are both within a short driving distance and there are also public transportation options.  Yale is a one-hour drive from here and also has a train option.”

“You’re thinking of us moving here?” Quinn asked.

“Yes,” Paul said. “We contacted a realtor and applied for jobs when we were here during spring break.  It was sort of a fishing expedition – testing the waters, seeing what was available, and considering our options.”

“On Friday, Paul and I had final interviews with two of the places we had applied to when we were here.  We also went to view some homes in the area.”

“Wait, so you’re considering moving us here now?” Dave asked.

Paul said, “Well, not immediately, but soon.  It’s not a done deal, but we were both offered the jobs we interviewed for on Friday.”

Judy added, “We haven’t given them our answers yet.  We’re on our way now to show you three a few houses.  Kurt, you haven’t said anything.”

“I don’t know what to say.  Are you inviting me to move here with you, if you do?”

“Of course, honey. You’re part of this family.”

“Won’t my dad fight that?  Me moving here before I’m 18?”

Paul said, “Legally, he can’t.  When he signed those guardianship papers, he gave up his control over your life.  But even if he is upset and you decide you want to stay because he asks you to, you will turn 18 before school starts again in the fall and you can live or move anywhere you choose at that point.”

“You’re right. I was going to stay at their new place until my birthday, and then move back out as soon as I turned 18.”

“If all three of you don’t want to make this move, we’ll have to figure out what to do instead. We could move to Columbus to a bigger school district that offers better classes.  We can do more research.  At least hear us out on this option before you decide one way or the other.”

“Of course,” Kurt said.  “I’m just in shock. Why would you two want to move here?  You have your own firm, Paul.  You’ve worked hard to build your clientele and reputation.”

“Honey, we know that you and Quinn absolutely do not want to live in Lima for the rest of your lives. Paul and I grew up there. We didn’t choose to move there. We just never actively made a choice to move away.  We can talk more about reasons later.  Right now, we’re going to look at a few houses to see what the three of you think.  We’re staying overnight and tomorrow we’ve made arrangements to take you to see the high school that we think you all might like.  It offers drama, music, dance, AP classes, and all of the regular classes.  And if it’s not a good fit for Dave, the college he’s interested in offers classes for high school students.  We’d just need to look into the details and see if he can still enroll in the program to start in the fall.”

Paul turned into a driveway.  “This place used to have a garage in the lower level which the owners had started to convert to more living space, but didn’t finish.  It has enough room that we could have a driveway put in alongside the house and build a new 2-car garage in the back yard.”

The five of them got out and the teens were introduced to the realtor, Mr. Parish, who was in his late 40’s with salt and pepper hair, cut in a typical business style.  He was about Kurt’s height, but slightly heavier.  He unlocked the front door and let everyone inside.

“So, the main level of the house has three bedrooms and two bathrooms.  The master bedroom has its own bathroom.  The second bathroom is in the hall between the two other bedrooms.  As you can see there’s an open living and dining area.  The kitchen opens from both the hallway and the dining area.  The patio door opens onto a deck.”  He gave the three teens time to look around.

“Now, if you’ll follow me downstairs, this area to my right used to be the family room.  The laundry room is down here and the current owners had started the work on a third bathroom down here.  The plumbing is already complete for it as well as for a sink area for a kitchenette or a bar.  The area that used to be the garage has been modified already with windows and a door on the front, but not much else was done. But with the electricity and plumbing being ready, it wouldn’t take much to convert the downstairs into a separate apartment.”  He gave them time to look around again.  “Do you have any questions?”  He handed Paul a few sheets of paper.  “You had asked for the floor plan of the upstairs and downstairs of this house and of the other houses.”

“Thank you.”

“If you don’t have any questions, why don’t we go back upstairs and you can look out back, and then we’ll go over to the next house.”

A half-hour later, they pulled down a longer driveway to park.  They all got out again. 

“Now, this house has more land obviously.  It’s a 3-story house.  It has four bedrooms and four and a half baths.  Let’s go inside and you can look around.”  He opened the door.  “This house is move-in ready.  Here on the main level, you’ll find the living room, a formal dining room, and the kitchen.  On the next level up, you’ll find three bedrooms and bathrooms, the upper level has a master suite, with its own den or office or library.  Feel free to look around.”  He waited for everyone to finish looking.  “We have one last place, unless someone has a question.”

No one spoke up.

“Alright.  I’ll meet you at the third house.”

When they pulled up to the third place, which was a small house on a corner lot, Dave said, “This place looks really small.”

“It is, but keep an open mind,” Paul said.

Mr. Parish let them in.  “Now, this used to be a 2-bedroom cottage style home with a 1-car attached garage, but the previous owners had the garage turned into a room and had started the process of turning it into a master suite, but didn’t complete the process.  The plumbing and additional electrical work were completed, but nothing was installed and the drywall is only partially up. They had already remodeled the kitchen.”

The teens all looked confused, but walked off to look around.

Kurt said, “The remodel is nice.  I like the stainless appliances and the sort of mid-century vibe the kitchen has, but there are five of us and two bedrooms.  Even if we finish out that master suite, there’s not much room in here for all of us.”

Paul flipped through the papers that Mr. Parish had handed him.  “This is what we would build and attach to the end of the house, facing the other street.  It’s a 3-car garage.  The garage would be 2-story and the upstairs would be two apartments – a 1-bedroom apartment for Quinn and a 2-bedroom apartment for you two.  They would each have stairways that lead down to doors that can be entered from the outside.  You two would have a kitchen, living room, two bedrooms, and either one and a half baths or two.  We need to look through more designs to come up with a final floor plan.  Quinn can look at potential layouts for whether she wants an open, efficiency-style apartment or whether she’d like actual rooms.  We can use the unfinished room as a storage area for our furniture during the transition.  If absolutely necessary you two could sleep in there until everything is finished, but hopefully we can get it done before school starts.  Once we can move all of the extra furniture into the apartments, that room will become the studio like our living room is now.  We’d do a slight modification on this area.”  He pointed to the alcove were the two bedroom doors and the bathroom door all faced.  “We’ll have French doors or something installed over the opening and these two rooms will be ours, a bedroom and an office.”

Kurt opened the patio door and stepped out.  Dave followed him.  They walked to the area where the garage would be built. 

Kurt said, “I like the idea for this house the best and the first house second.  If we’re going to live with them while we are in college, that will save a ton of money, but I don’t really want to live in a combined family situation like we have now while we’re in college.  I’d like to have more freedom of people coming over or just more privacy than sharing a living room and kitchen with everyone.”

“I like this idea the best too, but I don’t want them to spend a fortune building something for us.”

“Let’s go back inside.”

“Are you two ready to go?” Paul asked when they came back in.

“Sure,” Kurt said.

Paul thanked the realtor and they headed off.  Once they were in the car, he said, “We’re staying in the same place we stayed over spring break.  We were in a hotel Friday and Saturday night, but the apartment had tonight available.  We’re going to stop and get Chinese on the way there.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Once they had eaten, they sat in the living room to discuss things.

Kurt started. “I’d like to know what made the two of you consider this option to start with.”

Judy answered, “We know that McKinley isn’t a great option.  We looked at North Lima and while they do have a few AP classes, it’s still a lot like McKinley, and they don’t have a choir.  When we looked at the school that Kurt is most interested in the difference in tuition between in-state and out-of-state is nearly $15,000 a year.  That’s $60,000 over a 4-year period.  The school Dave is most interested in right now is a private school with quite reasonable tuition.  We looked at renting a place for the two of you to live in this general area and rent is ridiculous.”

“But the cost of building that garage with the apartments above it wouldn’t be cheap either.”

“But you want to work in New York City.  I know it’s a long commute, but it’s simple.  It’s not like commuting to work in Toledo from Lima.  There’s no driving involved for you,” she said. “If you eventually decide to move into Manhattan and can afford it, then we can rent the apartment or apartments out.”

Paul said, “I did all of the math on this.  If you two spend $2000 a month on rent and utilities and Kurt saves $60,000 in tuition, that’s a little over $150,000 in four years.  That would pay off the construction costs of the garage and then there would be no more rent to pay and no more tuition bills.  You two would be able to live and not be constantly stressed.  And like Judy said, you could live here for 3-4 years and commute and pay no rent and save up money and try living in Manhattan for a year.  If you don’t like it, you can move back out here and back into your apartment.”

“It will have its own separate entrance, so it won’t be like living with us,” Judy said.  “Quinn would be able to spend the summers here if she wanted and work or if she decides she wants to stay wherever she goes to college all year round, we can consider renting out her apartment and when she does come to visit, she can stay in the studio.  We can have a Murphy bed installed or get a nice sofa bed.”

Dave said, “I like the idea of the apartments above the garage more than I like the basement apartment idea.  I think it would be nicer and more feasible in the long run. If we move out at some point, I think you’d have better luck renting an apartment above a garage than one in a basement.”

Paul said, “If we do the garage build, we would end up doing a lot of the work ourselves to cut down on the costs.  I would obviously have an electrician, plumber, and people in to hang the drywall, but the rest we would do.  Tiling, flooring, painting, and things like that.”

No one said anything for a while. 

“You asked why Paul and I would leave Lima.  I can’t answer for him, but I can answer for myself.  Until the last few years, he and I had no reason to not be fine with living there.  I’m not beyond admitting my faults.  I followed the prescribed path for my life.  I did what was expected of me.  I didn’t color outside the lines and I chose all of the ‘correct’ colors.  And if Quinn hadn’t gotten pregnant, I would still be married to a cheating man who didn’t love me and I didn’t love.  I would still be living in that false pretense of perfection and not knowing what it’s like to be with someone who actually cares about me as a person.”  She stared out the window for a few minutes, and then took a deep breath and let it out.  “I didn’t even realize that I was a functional alcoholic.  I never drank until I was drunk and blacked out.  I drank to stay just buzzed enough to tolerate my life. I started drinking when I got home from work and I drank all evening until I went to bed.  When I filed for divorce, I continued to drink at first.  Things were so messed up.  But when I started to see Paul and spend time with him, I found that I didn’t feel like I needed to drink when I got home.  We’d spend the evening together and I’d go home and I didn’t feel like drinking, but I couldn’t fall asleep without it.  Eventually, I quit altogether.  I was just in this alcohol-induced daze at home for years.  I told myself that I had no right to be unhappy, so I pretended that I was – because what kind of person wouldn’t be happy with the perfect life I had?”  She wiped her eyes.  “Sorry.  I’ve moved away from the topic at hand.  You asked why we would want to move away from Lima.  We want to be part of your lives.  And you three don’t want to live in Lima and the honest truth is that we have no real reason to stay.  Frannie doesn’t live in Lima anymore and she’s moved on.  Maybe in time, we’ll grow closer.  I don’t know.  She followed in my footsteps.  She married the right kind of man, and she’s disappointed in me.  I didn’t raise Quinn right, and I wasn’t enough to keep my husband from straying.”

“Mom, that’s not true,” Quinn insisted.

“Which part?”

“The part where it’s your fault that I got pregnant and that you were cheated on.  That’s nonsense.  The person who cheats is at fault.  And you certainly didn’t tell me to go have unprotected sex. That’s nonsense.  I didn’t know Frannie felt that way.  She’s wrong.  She wasn’t even there.  Don’t listen to her.”

“Unfortunately, she feels justified in her beliefs.  I taught them to her after all.  Be good.  Be outgoing, yet submissive.  Be beautiful and make guys want you, but don’t let them have you.  Be smart and do well in school, but don’t assert yourself too much and make men find you unattractive.  Choose a proper career for a woman.  So, she followed in my footsteps.  She’s a teacher, but I don’t honestly know if she even likes it.  I do enjoy what I do.  I never meant for her to choose something she wouldn’t like.”  She got up and got a few napkins and sat back down.  “Sorry for breaking down.  I just feel like I lost out on so much.”  She turned to Quinn.  “I feel like you and I are closer, but I’ve alienated everyone else by being genuinely happy for the first time in my life.”  She let Paul wrap his arm around her shoulder.  “No one in Lima that I was friends with before wants me around.  I’m the outcast. The women I know feel the way Frannie does.  Why should I expect them to feel any different?  I have no reason whatsoever to stay in Lima.”

Paul ran his hand up and down Judy’s upper arm to console her.  “I do have my firm, but the job I’ve been offered here pays more than I’m making in Lima.  Now, granted, houses here are more expensive, but we can sell our house and Judy can sell hers and we can put the money together to get a house here.”

“The job I was offered pays more as well.”

“We’ve done all of the calculations carefully,” Paul said.  “The only issue is the cost of attending the schools that Quinn is interested.”

“Honey, you’re going to have to apply for every scholarship you can find.  There is just literally no way to justify spending $300,000 on a 4-year degree.  For that much, you could buy a nice place anywhere besides a huge city and only have your utilities and food to pay for the rest of your life.”

“I know.  I’ve thought about that.  I’ll look at some of the New York schools.  And I will apply for a lot of scholarships.”

“I’m not sure if you’re aware, but your father is refusing to cover any of your college costs. We would actually have to sue him to force him to contribute.  And you know as well as I do, that he will find the cheapest place he can and agree to pay half of the tuition, which means at best, he’ll contribute $3000-4000 a year.”

“But if Paul adopts me?”

“Your father won’t pay a penny.  But please don’t let that be a deciding factor in whether or not you want to let Paul adopt you.”

“I don’t really want any of daddy’s money anyway.”

Dave said, “What about Kurt?”

“What do you mean?” Paul asked.

“Will Burt pay for any of his college costs?”

Paul answered, “Honestly, I don’t know.  He’s not talked about it with me.”

Kurt said, “I would doubt more than a couple of thousand per year.  They went ahead and bought that house, so I doubt he has any expendable income at this point.  I was planning to pay my own way through college anyway.  I’ve been saving up for a few years already.  I’ll work this summer and every summer between semesters.  With what I’ve saved up, and what I can earn each summer, I should be able to cover my tuition and books if I get in-state tuition.  I was going to have to work throughout the school year to cover living expenses. Going to school here is a long-term goal.  I’ve known for a while that if I moved here, I’d have to live here for 12 consecutive months before the application due dates in order to become a resident of New York to get in-state tuition.  If I move here right after graduation, I can get a job and work for 18 months before I apply.  I’d be starting two years later than Dave.  It’s either that or take out massive loans.  Or the other option is to go to a state school in Ohio, and then move to New York.”

“I could start over here,” Quinn said.  “No one would know anything about me.  I could be myself.”

Kurt said, “It would be nice not to be automatically singled out, but what, if anything, did you find out about how this community feels about gay men?”

Judy answered, “Well, their community theatre is really great here.  And if we had been here just a little later this spring, we could have seen a new play about a gay man and his relationship with his aging father.”

Kurt looked shocked. “There are enough people here interested in seeing a play like that to actually fill a theater enough times to keep their bills paid?”

“It seems that way to me,” she said.

Paul added, “There’s also this list of cities with LGBT friendliness and this area got a really high score on legal issues and acceptance here.  I can send you the link and you can look at it.”

“I’d like to see it,” Kurt said.

“Me too.  I just don’t want to move from one bad situation to another.”

Judy said, “The school counselor assured me that they do not have the types of issues that you’ve dealt with at McKinley.  She wasn’t at liberty to name names of course, but she told me that she could name at last 30 LGBT students off the top of her head, and more if she thought about it longer.”

“How big is this school?” Kurt asked.

“About 800 students I believe.”

“So about the same size as McKinley.  And we’re going to go there tomorrow?”

“Yes, the counselor has arranged for you and Quinn to visit the morning classes to see the dance, music, and drama courses and for Dave to see their math and sciences courses. We’ll be leaving before lunchtime and driving to the airport.”

Kurt hesitantly asked, “Does all of this mean that you two have set a date?  Paul said that you wouldn’t move in until you two had actually gotten married.”

“Yes,” Judy said. “We’re going to get married once school is out.  It will just be the five of us, unless Frannie changes her mind.  We’re going to do a simple courthouse wedding. We’ll wait to take a honeymoon until after Puck has moved to Columbus and you two turn 18.  That way there won’t be any legal issues. Quinn can stay with the two of you either here or in Lima or wherever we’re living.”

Paul said, “If we’re living here, we’ve thought about taking a trip up the East Coast for our honeymoon.  Neither one of us has ever been and some the photos along the coast are really spectacular.”

“We have a lot to think about,” Kurt said.  “What time do we need to be ready in the morning?”

“About 7:00,” Judy said.  “You have an appointment to speak with the counselor first.  After that, you’ll tour the school, and when classes start you’ll sit in on a several.  She said she’d take you to three classes each period, so you can see more of a variety that way.  They don’t have finals until next week, so it won’t be exactly a typical class, but you’ll be able to see what they’ve been working on all year I would imagine.”

Dave said, “You didn’t really answer Kurt’s question about why you would want to leave Lima. I thought you liked living in Lima.”

“I did until the homophobia became personal.  I know that sounds really bad, but it’s true.  I never really thought about how it affected people’s lives because I didn’t know anyone it affected personally.  The day Kurt called and said you were on your way to the hospital in an ambulance because you were attacked was the first day I hated Lima. And I hated myself because I had been part of the problem.  Burt and I participated in the low-level crap we gave guys that weren’t ‘manly enough’.  It was all in ‘good fun’.  Pick and poke at the weird kids because we were the top dogs.  We started or at least perpetuated the things that escalated into Kurt being tortured for years.  I still have that on my conscience and I probably always will.  Yeah, I was a ‘kid’, but I knew better than to treat people badly.  Everyone ‘knew better’, but we did it anyway.  It was the 80’s.  We were supported by adults who were terrified of AIDS.  No one really understood how it was transmitted.  And I figure that’s where the whole issue of people being afraid of even being near gay teens and men came from.  It was ‘common knowledge’ that AIDS was God’s judgment on gay men.  They were being stricken down for their sins and unwillingness to repent. Adults didn’t want to be around gay men.  Teachers did nothing to us for the bullying.  They did it themselves, just silently.  When a less-than-manly teen guy would approach the teacher’s desk, the teacher would recoil.  They didn’t want to ‘catch it’.  No one wanted to catch AIDS, and it morphed into no one wanted to catch being gay amongst the students who saw that behavior.  It happened everywhere.  Religion and pseudoscience mixed with a serious lack of real scientific understanding are not a good combination.  The guys that used to be willing to invite me over for beer and poker or to go golfing or to go out for a beer or whatever – they don’t want to have anything to do with me now.  They haven’t moved forward.  They’re stuck.  I have no one that I do anything with now.  Jarlton is it.”

“I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t know.  At least Z’s dad doesn’t act like a jerk.”

“It’s not your fault, David.  Not at all.  I asked the person who interviewed me Friday about what he thought the reaction of the firm’s current legal staff would be to the fact that I have a gay son.  I honestly didn’t even want to consider the job if I was going to have to deal with homophobic colleagues all the time.”

“He said he couldn’t think of anyone who would be bothered by it.  He said that one of the other lawyers is gay, but that it wasn’t his place to out someone, even though the guy is open about it.  And I’ll be perfectly honest, I’ve kept most of my consistent clients, meaning my business clients, but news travels fast and quite a few people specifically ask to see Mitch now.”

Dave sighed and rolled his neck trying to relax.  “I didn’t know.”

“I didn’t want you to. It’s not your fault people are ignorant.”

“What will Mitch do?”

“Look for another partner?  Buy me out so he can stay in the building?  I’ll just notify my clients that I’m moving and they can change firms if they want to.”

Judy said, “It’s close to 8:30.  We have an early morning.  Why don’t we just try to rest for a while? Quinn will be sleeping on the futon out here since this place only has two bedrooms. I’m sorry about that honey, but we thought this would be nicer than a hotel with two beds and a sleeper sofa.”

“Much better,” Quinn said.  “I’ll watch something while Kurt and Dave shower.  I’ll change after everyone’s gone to their rooms.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave closed and locked the bedroom door behind him as he came back in from showering.  Once he was in the room, he took the pajamas he had on back off and put them in his backpack.  He got in bed with Kurt, who was looking at something on his phone.  He checked the alarm time, and then put it on the bedside table.  He rolled over and faced Dave.

“Hey, handsome.” He kissed him gently. He lowered his voice.  “I’m planning a nice shower for the two of us tomorrow.  I don’t like showering alone anymore.”

Dave smiled. “Me neither.”  He wrapped his arm around Kurt and pulled him closer.  “You’re going to move with us, right?”

“You want me to, don’t you?”

“Yes.  That’s why I asked.  Even if they pick Columbus or something, you’ll still come, right?”

“Dave, sweetie, relax. I love you.  I’m going to move with you.  I’ll miss very little about Lima.  I won’t be able to put flowers on my mom’s grave and I’ll miss working with my dad.  But both of those things are going to end in a year anyway.  Now or then, things are going to change.”

“It’s exciting to think that we could be living in our own little apartment in a few months.”

“It would be nice.”

“You don’t sound excited.”  Dave moved his hand and tipped Kurt’s chin up.  “What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine.  This is just how I deal with potentially positive things.  I never let myself get my hopes up for anything good to happen.  That way, in the unusual circumstance that it does, I am thoroughly excited.  And in the usual situation, I just go one putting one foot in front of the other hoping to avoid most of the pitfalls in my general vicinity.”

“That makes you sound like a pessimist and I’m surprised because you are always so positive.”

“I put my best effort forward and that requires me to strive for a positive outcome.  I just never bank on anything turning out well. I’m positively realistic or something like that.  As opposed to someone who believes nothing is going to work out anyway, so why bother trying?”

“Okay.  I do see the difference.  Visiting the school tomorrow will be interesting.”

“It will.  Let’s try to sleep.  I’ll turn over and be the little spoon.”  He kissed Dave.  “I love you.”

Dave kissed him again. “I love you too.”

Kurt rolled over and scooted back against Dave’s chest, but he lay there awake and thinking for a long time before he fell asleep.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“So, this is our intermediate ballet class.  We’d need you to come in to audition at some point to determine your placement.” Mrs. Klassen opened the door to the room and sat at the back with Kurt and Quinn. 

They watched and they were both clearly impressed by the class.  The teacher took the time to come over and speak to them while the class was warming up. 

“I’m Miss Wilson.”

“Quinn.”

“Kurt.”

“It’s nice to meet you both.  Are you enrolling next school year?”

Quinn answered, “It’s possible.  Our family might be moving here this summer.”

“Do you both dance?”

“Yes,” Kurt answered.  We’ve been partners for about a year now.”

“Do you have your shoes with you?”

“I have my regular ballet shoes, but not my pointe shoes.”

Kurt said, “I don’t.”

“That’s fine. Why don’t you slip yours on, Quinn?  I realize that Kurt may not be able to dance that well barefoot and in slacks, but it’s fine for today.”

They took places along the barre and began to stretch.  They joined in when Miss Wilson began to give instructions.  After a few minutes they moved into rows and began some small jumps and turns.  She came to where they were standing and ushered them back to where they had been originally.

“Do you have any videos of you performing together?”

Kurt took his phone out and pulled up the video of them performing to “Bohemian Rhapsody” and handed it to her.  They put their shoes back on.  The students moved to the corners and began practicing their jumps.  She only watched the first couple of minutes, and then paused the video.

“Who choreographed this piece?”

“We did it ourselves,” Kurt answered.

“Based on what little I’ve seen today, I’m not sure that you’re ready for the advanced class in the fall, but I think with work this summer that you could be.  Can you bring up your notes app?”  She handed Kurt his phone briefly and waited for him to return it to her.  “If your family does decide to move here, contact that studio.  I teach there over the summer.  When you call to enroll, tell them to let me know, and I’ll get in contact with you.”  She gave his phone back.

“Thank you,” Kurt said.

The three of them left, and Mrs. Klassen stopped to pick Dave up from the classroom he was in. They continued visiting classes until it was time for them to leave.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They pulled into the McKinley lot about 4:30.  All five of them got out and headed inside to speak with Principal Harrison. They didn’t have to wait and walked into his office.  The three teens stood.  Paul and Judy sat down in the two chairs.

“I want to thank you for contacting me personally and not filing charges against the district. Our school district is struggling financially already.”

Paul spoke. “It’s not my intention to sue the school district.  I don’t want money wasted in litigation.  Mr. Schuester was obviously negligent.  There is no defense for his behavior.  There is nothing to be gained by suing the school district.  I do know that the school is still in violation of parts of No Child Left Behind.  I will report that to the state.  It is unreasonable for students with learning issues and a good portion of the jocks to be passed from grade to grade with inadequate understanding of the material.  Both Judy and I graduated from McKinley and received a good education here.  We both went on to college and did well.  I don’t see that being the case that often anymore.  You have far too many students who are not learning what they need to know.  And now you have teachers letting minors run around with no supervision out of state in an unfamiliar metropolis with a high crime rate.”

“I agree that there is no defense for that.  He will be here at 4:45.  I would like to request that the three of you go remove your books from your lockers so you can study for finals.  All three of you missed both review days.”  He picked up a packet.  “These are the handouts your teachers passed out while you were gone.”

Kurt stepped forward and took it.  “Thank you. We’ll go get our books and wait in the car.”

Once they were gone, Mr. Harrison began to speak again.  “I agree with you that this school needs a lot of improvements.  I continue to work to make those happen.  But I have teaching staff members who have been here since before you two were students here who no longer have any interest in teaching.  If parents or students don’t complain it is virtually impossible to let them go.  What grounds would I have for firing people for not doing their jobs without proof?”  He saw Mr. Schuester standing in the waiting area.  He motioned for him to come in. 

Judy got up and went and sat on the arm of the chair Paul was sitting in, allowing Mr. Schuester to sit down.

“Mr. Karofsky and Ms. Fabray have made a serious accusation.  They have stated that you took all 14 members of the New Directions to New York by yourself and that while the students were in your care, you did not supervise them.  They claim that you allowed 13 minors and one adult student wander around New York City completely unsupervised without even an itinerary to have any idea where they were.  They also claim that as an educator not only was it your job to supervise the students in your care, but that it would have also been appropriate for you to plan educational activities, such as visiting museums or historically significant sites during the times when they were not rehearsing or performing, which as I understand it would have been almost all day Friday and Sunday.”

“I had another chaperone lined up, but they backed out at the last minute and I felt that it would be unfair to the students to deny them the opportunity to compete that they had earned.”

“Be that as it may, this school employs a large number of teachers that would have been appropriate to call at the last minute and ask to join you in chaperoning the group.  You could also have notified me of this situation and I could have made the phone calls myself to the male staff members that teach history and I’m sure that one of them would have been willing to join you.”

“And to address the issue of taking the students to museums, we do not have that in our budget. Museum tickets are around $20 each.”

“I’m fairly certain that most museums offer discounts to chaperoned groups of students.  And even if they don’t, your group could have raised the $300 it needed to go to at least one museum and the other day could have been spent visiting cultural and historical sites, such as the 9/11 Memorial or Ellis Island.”

Mr. Schuester nodded.

“So, you’re not denying the claim that these two parents are making.”

“No.”

“Mr. Karofsky and Ms. Fabray, I thank you for your concern.”  He spoke with an air of finality and the two of them got up and left the office.  Before they closed the door, he said, “Can you stay in the waiting room for a few moments?”

Paul nodded.  He and Judy sat down.

“I’ll expect your letter of resignation effective the end of this week on my desk before classes start tomorrow morning.  You will show up to administer and grade the final exams.  Do not call out sick.  You will come in Friday by noon and turn in all of your final grades and any McKinley property in your possession.”

“I understand.”

“We will be fortunate to make it through this without the district being sued.  The two parents that were just here don’t want to do that, but I cannot guarantee that will be the case if and when the other parents figure out that you did not provide proper care for their children.  Before you leave this room, you will write and sign a statement that the school was not informed of your choice to take the students to New York alone.  I do not wish to be sued personally for your negligence.”  He stood and Paul noticed his movement.  He motioned for them to return.  “Mr. Schuester is going to write a statement and I would like you two to sign it as witnesses that you saw him write the statement and sign it himself.

Paul nodded. “I’m actually a notary.  I have my stamp in my briefcase in the car. I’ll go get it.”

“Thank you.”

When he returned, Mr. Harrison handed Mr. Schuester a blank piece of paper and a pen on a clipboard. Mr. Schuester took it and began to write.

_I, William Schuester, took the 14 members of the New Directions to New York City from 05/20/2011-05/22/2011 to compete in the Show Choir National Competition without an additional chaperone.  No one in the school district was aware of that fact, with the exception of the bus driver who drove us to the airport._

_The 14 students were: Rachel Berry, Finn Hudson, Mike Chang, Tina Cohen-Chang, Arthur Abrams, Noah Puckerman, Kurt Hummel, David Karofsky, Quinn Fabray, Mercedes Jones, Samuel Evans, Azimio Adams, Santana Lopez, and Brittany Pierce._

_While we were in New York City, I did not supervise the students’ activities, nor did I accompany them to any places they may have gone besides the hotel and the theater we performed in.  I was not notified of any injuries during the trip._

_I will be tendering my resignation from my teaching position at William McKinley High School tomorrow morning, 05/24/2011.  I will finish out this week.  I will administer and grade the final exams for the courses I teach, and I will turn in the final grades for the students in those courses._

_William Schuester_

Judy and Mr. Harrison signed below his name as witnesses and Paul signed and notarized that he had witnessed all three of them sign the paper.  When he was finished, he put the information in his ledger and asked for two photocopies for himself.  Mr. Harrison made a copy for himself and Mr. Schuester as well.

“Thank you, Mr. Karofsky.  You and Ms. Fabray are free to leave.  I appreciate your concern and you bringing this to my attention.”

The two of them nodded, and the left.

Mr. Harrison spoke again.  “You will not discuss the nature of your resignation with any of the students or the staff if you have any sense left in your obviously addled brain.”

“I understand.”

“Tomorrow morning, before classes start.”

Mr. Schue nodded and left.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Judy dropped Paul, Dave, and Kurt off at home.  The three of them took their stuff in and Kurt went back downstairs to make something to eat.  Dave followed him back down a few minutes later.

“I’m sure he’ll take the Broadway role now.  He’d be crazy not to,” Kurt said as he dipped a slice of apple in peanut butter before he ate it.

“Yeah.”

Kurt dipped the next slice and stuck it in Dave’s mouth. 

He smiled and laughed. “That’s supposed to be your snack. You’re the one that has to go to work.”

Kurt leaned over and kissed him.  “I’ll be alright without that one slice.”

“I’ll make dinner while you’re gone.”

“Thank you.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Thursday morning before the final day of school started, Mr. Schue had asked the New Directions to meet in the choir room.  Once they had all arrived, he began to speak.  “I asked you all to come this morning because I wanted to let all of you know how proud I am of this group.  You all have worked really hard this year.  And fourth place is nothing to sneeze at.”

Several people laughed.

“As a second year group, I’m not sure we could hope for much better, although we all wanted to win. Since we were in the Showcase, your performance was professionally recorded, which I have put on CDs for you.  They’re here on the piano.  They just have us performing, no one else.  I would have had to pay $20 per DVD to get the entire Showcase.”

“Thank you for making copies for us,” Rachel said.  “We might be able to use them for our college applications next year.”

“You’re welcome. The other reason I called all of you here is to let you know that I have decided to accept the role in April’s musical.  I’ll be leaving next week to start rehearsals.  It will open in August.”

“Congratulations!” was heard from different people all around the room.

“If you’re in New York City this fall, let me know and I’ll see what I can do about getting you a ticket.”

The warning bell rang for first period.  Some of the students stayed back and talked to Mr. Schue.  Kurt, Quinn, and Dave took their CDs and went to class.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next morning, all of the New Directions met up at a strip mall on the way out of town. They divided up between Brittany’s mom’s mini-van and the Navigator.  They divided into two groups for the morning – half of them rode rollercoasters and the other half did not.  They met up for lunch and the groups regrouped.  Some people continued to ride rollercoasters and some chose to stay in the group with Artie that rode the regular rides.  Once it started to get dark, they met back up and went back to Lima.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Saturday morning Kurt woke up early as usual.  He lay still in Dave’s arms, trying to let Dave get more sleep.  Eventually Dave rolled back just enough that Kurt could get up.  He put some pajama pants and a t-shirt on and went downstairs to make breakfast and take up to Dave.

When he went in the kitchen, he found Puck plating some eggs. 

“Just leave the skillet.  I’ll make ours next.”

Puck grabbed a fork and sat down at the island to eat.  Kurt grabbed a carton of eggs, the milk, a bowl, and whipped the eggs. He pulled out a bag of shredded vegetables and some shredded cheese to add in.  He put a little more oil in the pan and poured the mixture in and made their omelettes.

“You really do love him, don’t you?”

“Mmm hmm.”

“Thanks for getting me Saturdays off this summer.”

“You’re welcome.” 

“I’m going to be working my ass off again, but it should be more fun this time.  At least, I hope so.  Camp counselor for sports camp for 10-12 year old boys sounds more fun than cleaning everything, but I may end up changing my mind about that if any of them are like I was at that age.”

“But maybe you can make a difference if there are any.  You’ve seen first hand what a difference it can make for someone to have someone care.”

“Yeah.  You’re right. I get paid more to be the camp counselor too, so that will help my bank account.  Working 60 hours a week for 10 weeks before I head to Columbus.”

“Have you made a decision yet?”

“Yeah.  Nana’s going to let them adopt her.  They sat down and had a long talk. Silvia, she insisted that I call her that now, told my nana how they’ve wanted another child ever since Carlos was born, but she’s had three miscarriages and recently she had to have a partial hysterectomy – I didn’t ask.  Anyway, she can’t have any more kids.  They had already decided to pursue adoption.  They’ve had the family studies done – again I didn’t ask.  Nana was convinced that they aren’t offering to adopt her because they feel sorry for her or something.  They really want more kids and they already love her and she loves them.  We’re going to talk to her today and ask her what she thinks of the idea.  I’m pretty sure that she will say ‘yes’ as long as she still gets to see me and Nana.”

“Are you okay with it?”

“Mostly.  It will just take some time.  A lot of things have changed in a short period of time.”

“You’re right. They have.”

Kurt plated the omelettes, poured two glasses of juice, grabbed two forks, some napkins, and put all of it on the tray and turned to wash the skillet.

“Leave that. I’ll wash it.  Take the food up and eat it warm.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt pushed the door open quietly and sat the tray on the dresser. He locked the door, undressed, and picked the tray back up.  He sat down on his side of the bed gently.

“Hey, handsome. I brought you breakfast.”

“You’re a ninja when you want to make me breakfast.”  Dave sat up and slid up in the bed. 

Kurt put the tray between them.  Dave was still pretty tired and they ate without talking much.

“That was really good. Thank you.”

Kurt nodded and swallowed.  “You’re welcome.”

“What’s the special occasion?”

“Well, today is the first free Saturday of summer break.  I figured we could eat and then lounge around for a while before we do anything even remotely useful like get ready to go to the movies with Tina, Artie, Sam, Quinn, Azimio, and Mercedes.”

“Sounds great.” When Kurt finished his juice, Dave picked the tray up, put it on the dresser, went to the bathroom, and got back in bed. 

Kurt went in the bathroom next.  “Ick.  Toothpaste and orange juice, yuck.  I usually brush my teeth before we go down to eat.”

Dave laughed. “I saw some anise flavored toothpaste.  We could try that. Maybe you’d think it goes better with orange juice.”

“It’s worth a shot.” He crawled across the bed and straddled Dave’s legs and sat down on his lap.  “So, what lounge around activity interests you the most this morning?”

“Well, what are my choices?”

“Free choice.”

“Oh, really?”

“Mmm hmm.”

“What if I said I wanted you to do a strip-tease?”

“I’d say I have to get dressed first.”

“You’d do it?”

“Sure.  Why not?  But only for you.”  He leaned forward and kissed Dave.  “I love you and I’ll dance for you if that’s what you want.”

“Sometime, but how about we just snuggle for now?  And talk.  We’ve been busy studying all week and I missed talking to you.”

“Choose the snuggle position and I’ll snuggle up.”

Dave scooted down in the bed and turned on his side.  Kurt lay down facing him.

“We’re seniors.”

“One more year of high school.”

“It feels so weird thinking about leaving this summer.  I really need to work here all summer for the money and the experience. I need Cassius to be able to sign the forms that say that I’ve worked under him for two full years.”

“I didn’t know that. We need to tell my dad.”

“I might be able to take a week’s vacation and get away with it, but I can’t get away with much more than that because I already took that week off at spring break.  And other days here and there.”

“So, if we do move, I’m going to be there without you?”

“I don’t know. No one ever discussed the specifics.  Maybe we’ll have to do the work on the weekends?  Or you can go with Judy and Quinn and I’ll stay here with your dad and still work?”

“We should find out. We’ll talk to him when we come back this afternoon.”

“Let’s stop at the library on the way back and find some new books to read.”

“You bookworm.” Dave lightly ticked him.

“It takes one to know one.”  Kurt stuck his tongue out.

“I see.”  Dave scooted forward and licked Kurt’s upper lip just slightly.  He surprised Kurt, causing him to laugh and Dave kissed him.

“I remember what happened last year on the Saturday before Memorial Day.”

“So do I.  We went to Brittany’s pool party and Finn shoved me and Quinn into the pool.”

“That’s not what I was thinking of.”

Kurt waggled his eyebrows.  “I know.”  He scooted forwarded and kissed Dave. “Finn better stay away from me at the pool party this afternoon.  I wish he just wouldn’t come, but that’s not going to happen.  I’m not getting wet though.  I’ll go because Brittany wants me to, but I’m sitting in one of the chaises and staying away from the water.  I want to go to the bookstore too.”

“The library AND the bookstore?” Dave teased.

“Yes.” Kurt pretended to pout.

Dave reached up and ran his thumb across Kurt’s lower lip.  “Now, put that lip back where it goes.”  He kissed him.  “Of course, we can go to the library AND the bookstore.”

“I just remembered that I’ve been waiting for months to buy _Goliath_.  And now school’s out and I want to go get it.”

“Maybe I’ll find something that will jump off the shelf and scream to be taken home.”

“I certainly hope that you will ignore anything that does that.  It sounds a lot like the books in the restricted section of the Hogwarts library.”

“What?  No sense of adventure today?”

“I’d like to keep all of my fingers.  Thank you very much.”  He ran his fingers through Dave’s chest hair.

“I see your point. Maybe we need to at least put shirts on to talk.”

Kurt continued his light caresses.  “Am I distracting you? I could stop.”  He scooted forward and moved his caressing downward and kissed Dave passionately.  “Or I could distract you even more.”

“God, you’re such a tease.”

“Oh, no teasing. Teasing is mean.  I’m definitely willing. This is tempting you.” Kurt kissed down his neck.

“I thought we were going to talk,” Dave said.

Kurt scooted back. “Okay.  This is one of those times where I legitimately can’t tell if you want me to stop or not, so I’m going to stop.  We can always wait until we’re in Brittany’s bathroom again.”

Dave laughed. “That was at the second pool party last summer.”

“The only GOOD thing about that pool party. I just want to make you feel good.”

“Just being with you like this, talking, makes me feel good.”

Kurt stopped his attempts at seducing Dave and put his hand on Dave’s neck.  He ran his finger along Dave’s stubbled jaw line.  “What did you think of the school?”

“I think going there part-time and doing the dual-credit classes is what I want to do.  I looked through everything carefully and I want to do a double major in finance and sports management.  I really want to do the sports management thing, but it really seems like having a back-up plan would be a good idea. Rather than continue to take more math classes like AP Calculus, I could take Accounting and Statistics and applied math courses.  Other than English, Governments and three other credits, I already have enough credits to graduate, so I could fill the rest of my credits with required courses for college. I think I’d just take Government and an elective the second semester at school and take college English and Economics for dual credit. It just makes more sense.”

“Wow, you’ve been really reading up on everything.  I need to do that.”

“You can.  I had time this week when you were at work. But you won’t be working in the evenings anymore and you won’t have homework.”

“I want to see if I could do that too, maybe just for English, French, and Spanish.  And I’d love to take some kind of applied math instead of Calculus.”

“We’ll start some in-depth research tonight or Monday evening.”

“Monday, my dad’s have the cookout at his house for all of the guys that work at the shop and their families.”

“Right.  I know.  You hadn’t decided whether to go or not the last time we talked about it.”

“That was before I found out that we might be moving to New York this summer.  I decided to go, but you don’t have to go with me if you don’t want to.  That doesn’t mean that I don’t want you to, but I want you to have the choice to go or not.  Just because I’m going doesn’t mean that you HAVE to go.”

“I’ll go.  I’m not ashamed to be your boyfriend.”

“We’ll only stay for an hour or two, unless it’s actually fun and we’re both having a good time. If anyone says anything derogatory, we’ll leave immediately.”

“Good plan.  I feel like a louse not having a job when you’re going to be working 40 hours a week.”

“I think we need to figure the moving issue first.  If you’re going to end up needing to go with Judy to New York for an extended period of time, you can’t just get a job and not show up or quit right away.”

“I know, but it still feels wrong.”

Kurt’s phone alarm went off.  He rolled over to turn it off.  “Time to get ready to go to the movies.”

Dave kissed him and pulled him close.  “Okay.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When Kurt and Dave got back late that afternoon, they showered again and started their laundry.  After they redressed, they went downstairs to talk Paul. They moved their clothes to the dryer, and then went into the den.   Paul had several floor plans printed out and he handed them to Kurt and Dave to look at after they sat down and got comfortable.

“There are some interesting options,” Dave said.

“There are.  The website they came from is there on the bottom.  After we talk, you can go look the site up and look through all of them.”

“We’ll do that,” Kurt said. “What I needed to tell you is that I really need to stay here in Lima until my birthday in order to take those certification tests.  I have to have two years experience working under a certified mechanic as part of the requirements.  And plane tickets are too expensive to fly there every weekend.”

“That’s an issue I wasn’t aware of.”

“I’m sorry.  It wasn’t an issue until the possibility of moving this summer came up.  I know you can’t move until Puck turns 18, but that’s three weeks before I do.”

“School doesn’t start there until the day after Labor Day, so you could still be there for the beginning of the school year.  But the more important question is whether the two of you have decided that this is what you want to do.”

They both nodded.

Dave said, “We don’t love it here.  We don’t even like it here.  We’ll miss the people we’ve made friends with this past couple of years, but it’s high school. We will all go our separate ways in a year anyway.”

“Quinn told Judy that she’s willing to move as well.  She put their house up on the market this afternoon while I was in Columbus. It will go on up on the listings this week with showings starting a week from Monday to give us time to move everything out.  Can you get off on Wednesday for a couple of hours?”

“I could get off early.  Is 2:00 early enough?”

“Yeah.  We can go at 2:45 or 3:00.  The courthouse open until 4:00.”

“What do you want us to wear?”

“I’ll defer that question to Judy.  I think a suit is what she decided on.  Did you two have a good time today?”

“I stayed away from the pool, but yes, I had a good time.  Finn stayed in the pool when he wasn’t eating, so it worked out fine.”

“We loved the movie. It was a lot of fun.”

“Maybe Judy and I will go see it.  Next weekend we’re renting a U-Haul and taking some of our extra furniture to Columbus and bringing the rest of it here.  So, if you two could keep Saturday and maybe Sunday morning free to help with all of it, I’d appreciate it.”

“Are we allowed to ask how the trip went?  Since you mentioned the beds, I think I know the answer,” Kurt said.

Paul nodded. “Silvia and Gabriel are adopting Sarah.  We’re taking a queen bed to Ruth’s for her to have to sleep on.  We’re taking another queen bed and the twin bed to the Garcia’s.  That just leaves us with the bed in Puck’s room to deal with when we actually move since we won’t need to take it with us. We’re also taking the couch, side tables, and lamps from the studio for Puck to use in his apartment. We’ll be moving Judy’s living room furniture into the studio for now.  I need the two of you to look at the furniture in all three bedrooms and decide which set you like the best.  You don’t have to keep the one you have.  I know that Quinn doesn’t have bedside tables right now, so she may want a set.  We’ll get it all straightened out next weekend.”

“We’ll look when we go up.  Should we start dinner?” Dave asked.

“Nope.  Judy and Quinn are coming in a little while. And she’s bringing something.”

“Alright.  Just text us when to come down.  We’ll go up and look at the furniture.”

They grabbed their clothes from the dryer on the way upstairs.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“We can see if Puck wants your desk for Sarah since it’s not really big enough for you to sit at it comfortably.  We can look for new desks for both of us after we move.”

Dave and Kurt took more clothes out of the laundry basket and put them into the dresser.  

“I think the small mission style dresser in Puck’s room will be easy to refinish.  So how about using it in our living room to put the TV on? We can use it for extra storage and keep our movies in it.  Quinn can have the side tables for her room.  We can paint them white like the rest of her stuff.”

“There are two dressers in the other room.  Puck could take one for himself and one for Sarah and he can use the side tables for himself.”

Kurt put the last of the clothes in the drawer.  “There, that’s done.  Let’s get the pillows out for the bed and look up that website with the floor plans.”  Kurt put the laundry basket in the closet and brought the pillows out with him.  “From looking at the general size of the rooms on the floor plans he already showed us, our bedroom will be quite a bit smaller.  Is there even anything in that trunk at the end of the bed?  I never seen you open it in the entirety of the time I’ve lived here.”

“It’s mostly empty. It used to have a lot of toys in it, but when you were at work one day after you had moved in last year, I emptied it out and donated the toys, except I kept the Legos and put them in a storage bin and that’s all that’s in there now.  I couldn’t look at them.  For quite a while, I couldn’t bring myself to open it, but after you moved in, I got up the courage to do it.  We can give the Legos to Sarah and Carlos.  I just didn’t think about when they were here.”

“Do you even want the trunk?”

“Not really.”

“Not really because you can’t think of a purpose for it or not really because you don’t want to see it anymore.”

“The first reason.”

“Would it be okay if we refinish it?”

“Sure.”

“Okay.  Let’s refinish it to match our dresser and side tables.  We can store these triangle pillows in there and our extra blanket and sheets in there.  So, far I haven’t seen any floor plans with a walk-in closet the size of a small room like we have now.”

“Well, now I have two projects to keep me busy while you’re at work.”  He leaned towards Kurt, who met him halfway for the kiss Dave was offering. “Let’s make a folder and start bookmarking the ones we like so we can go back and look through them.”

Not too much later, there was a knock at their door.

“Come in,” Dave responded.

Quinn came in and shut the door behind her.

“Hey Quinn,” Kurt said.  “Come sit by me and look at floor plans with us.”

Dave and Kurt scooted over and made room for Quinn to sit down.

About 15 minutes later, Dave got a text asking them to come down. 

On the way down, Kurt showed Quinn the side tables.  “What do you think?  We’ll use the same paint as your other furniture.”

“I’d like that.”

“Are you okay with moving in here with us this weekend?”

“Kind of.  I really like my new room and the idea of moving everything twice isn’t really appealing, but I don’t mind living with you guys.”

“If you didn’t keep the paint color cards, go back and get some more to find the right colors again, and then keep the cards.  That way we can paint your new room the same color.  We’ll bring your bookcases here if you want, or we can build new ones.”

“I like the ones I have.  Let’s see if we can bring them.”

 [][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt sat the chocolate layer of the cake on the circular piece of foil-covered cardboard that Dave had made for him.  He spread the cream cheese frosting out in a thin smooth layer before stacking the vanilla layer on and repeating the frosting.  He stacked the strawberry layer on last and frosted the top and sides. 

“Can you bring the cake carrier in here now, please?”

Dave brought it and sat the base down so that Kurt could put the cake in.  Dave placed the domed lid on carefully.  “Done.  It looks great.  I put all of the lemon cookies on the plate and covered it in plastic wrap.”

“Thank you. Now, we’ll be able to leave whenever we want.”  He turned and kissed Dave.  “Thanks for baking with me.  I always have more fun when we do it together.”

“I like baking with you.  It’s the first thing we ever did together besides sit and talk.”

“Ready, then?”

“I’m ready.  Am I your mostly platonic boyfriend who remains a foot away from you at all times?”

“No.  You’re my boyfriend who I love very much and who should stand however close he wants to me.  I’m not going to be invisibly gay.  If people don’t like it, we can leave.  But these people have known me my whole life and they shouldn’t be shocked if we hold hands or do normal boyfriend things.  We’re not 12.”

“Okie dokey, artichokie.”

Kurt shook his head and rolled his eyes.  He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around Dave.  He could nearly look him straight in the eyes.  “I think that I am only about two inches shorter than you now.”  He kissed Dave.

“Makes you easier to kiss.” 

“Let’s go before I change my mind and kiss you more.”

Dave smiled at him and winked.  “That really isn’t encouraging me to move.”

Kurt let go of him and picked up the cake carrier.  “Come on…”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt rang the doorbell.  Carole opened the door and let them in.

“I’m glad you could come.  The food is all on the counters in the kitchen.”

Dave followed Kurt to the kitchen.  He put the cookies on the counter and then helped Kurt get the cake out of the carrier.   He took the carrier back out to the car and came back inside.  “Ready?”

“As ever, I guess.”

Dave took his hand and squeezed it before he let go.  They went out the patio door into the back patio.

“Kurt!” Cassius said, and greeted him with a manly thwack to the back.  “Hey, Dave!  Good to see you.”

“You too, Cassius. Need any help with that grill?”

“Nah, I think I got it, but thanks for the offer.”

They walked out into the yard and around the other side.  Kurt was hug tackled by two boys. 

“Give me a piggy back ride, Kurt!” one of them demanded.

“No, me!” the other said.

Kurt offered a compromise.  “How about if I give one of you a piggy back ride and Dave takes one of you?”

“Nope.  Just you,” one of them said.

“Alright, but you’ll have to take turns.  Guess a number from one to five and whoever is closest goes first.”

“Two!”

“Five!”

Kurt pulled his hand around and showed that he had four fingers up.  “That means, you’re up first, Mark.  Climb up.”  Kurt picked him up and galloped around the yard.  He brought him back and put him down.  “Your turn, Bryce.”  Kurt picked him up and gave him the same galloping ride around the yard and brought him back.

“Do me again!” Mark said.

“Not yet.  You two keep getting bigger.  I’m not sure how much longer I can piggy back you.”

“We’ll wait. Did you make a cake?” Bryce asked.

“I did.  It’s a Neapolitan cake.”

“What does that mean?” Mark asked.

“I know! I know!” Bryce exclaimed.  “It’s brown and white and pink like the striped ice cream!”

“You’re right. It’s chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry.”

“I’m definitely eating a piece,” Mark said.  “You make the best cakes.  Even better than our mom, but don’t tell her I said so.”

Kurt motioned to zip his lips.

They laughed at him.

He took the two of them a few steps from Dave and spoke to them.  “I’d like you to give Dave a chance to be your friend.”

“Who is he?”

“He’s my very best friend and my boyfriend.”

“Oh,” Mark said.

“What does that mean?” Kurt asked.

“It means that my grandma says that boys shouldn’t like other boys.  That it’s bad and wrong.”

“I see.  Well, your grandma and I don’t agree on that.”

Bryce said, “But Kurt’s not bad.  He’s nice.”

A loud whistle came from the patio area.  Everyone moved closer.

Cassius said, “The burgers and hot dogs are done.  I’m taking them inside.  Everybody come get in line to eat.”

Kurt didn’t get in line.  He looked for Candace, Bryce and Mark’s mom.  When he found her, he took her aside.

“I didn’t mean to cause you any problems.  I told Bryce and Mark that Dave is my boyfriend and their faces changed instantaneously.  I know that I’ve never told you that I was gay, but I assumed you knew.  You’ve always let me play with the boys.  Anyway, they told me that their grandma told them that boys who like boys are bad and wrong.  I just wanted to let you know that they may ask you questions about it.  I honestly didn’t know it would be an issue.  I’m sorry.”

“I see.  I appreciate you telling me.”

Kurt nodded.  “I have to go now.”

He took Dave’s hand again when he found him and went to find Burt, who was sitting in the family room watching baseball.

“Hey, kiddo. I’m glad you came.”

“I brought a Neapolitan cake and lemon cookies.  We’re not going to be able to stay.  I’ll see you at work tomorrow morning.”

Burt looked confused, but didn’t argue with him.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt drove back home and explained what happened.  They got out and went inside.  Kurt went up to their room and sat down on the floor facing his books.  He started looking through them and pulled a few off the shelf and put them on the futon.  He moved from there to the closet and started to look through his clothes.  He ended up sitting in the floor staring at a shoe rack.

“If you want to talk, I’m here for you.  I’m going to go put the hammock out and read if you decide you want to join me.” He picked up one of the library books he had checked out on Saturday and went downstairs.

Kurt began to cry. 

About 10 minutes later, Paul came upstairs.  “Kurt?” 

“In the closet. You can come in.”

Paul moved to the opening to the closet.  “I asked Dave where you were when you didn’t join him outside to read like you usually do.  He said you left the cookout, but didn’t say why and that you were up here.”

Kurt told him what happened.  “It just struck a nerve.  Those two boys have known me their whole lives and in an instant they questioned every personal interaction they have had with me wondering if I really am a bad person. They’re kids, and their opinions are swayed so easily.  I know I was just being overly sensitive.  I’m aware of that.  I just couldn’t stay.”  Kurt got up and went into the bathroom to blow his nose and splash water on his face.  When he came back out, he searched for _The Eye of he Storm_ about the brown- and blue-eyed children experiment on his phone and texted Paul a link. “It’s about 30 minutes long. Do you have time to watch it?”

“If this is important to you, I will make time.  Judy and Quinn are here too.  We’ll watch it together.  Go get Dave too.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Paul asked, “Why did you want me to watch this?  Not that it wasn’t incredibly interesting and sad, but also hopeful in an offbeat kind of way, but something triggered you to think of this.”

“It’s the age of the kids.  They’re 7 and 8. They tend to just believe everything an adult tells them, especially teachers, grandparents, and parents. And just like the kids in that class who turned on kids they had been friends with prior to the experiment, I watched two boys who have known me their whole lives suddenly look at me like I was wearing one of those collars.  I’ve been picked on since I was their age.  It takes its toll.  I’ll shore up my defenses again and go on.  It’s that or just give up permanently.  In some ways, I think it’s actually harder now than it was before.  I’ve opened up and let people in.  I don’t have my defenses up 24/7 and I’ve been letting more of my real self show, but in doing so, I’m less defended.  I had to leave because I didn’t want to be a smartass to two little kids. I didn’t want to tell them that their grandma is a bigoted jackass for teaching little kids to dislike people for traits they don’t choose.  So, I walked away.  It was just harder because of who it was.”

“The kids practically knocked him to the ground because they were so excited to see him.”

Paul nodded in understanding.  “Watching that makes me feel terrible about myself.”

“Me too,” Judy added. “I was one of the kids without a collar on my whole life.  I’ve made people feel lower than dirt for a wide variety of equally unimportant and ridiculous things, like a woman showing up to church in pants. That’s stupid.  I was raised to believe that God helps those who help themselves and that people without money are lazy and not doing God’s will. How much of this utter awfulness have I passed on to children?  I think I’m going to go for a walk.  I know that all I can do is behave differently now.”

“I’ll go with you,” Quinn said.

She nodded.

Paul got up and followed them.

“I don’t know what to say,” Dave admitted.  “I was one of the kids without a collar too, until-”

Kurt interrupted him, “-until you put a collar on yourself and you endured very targeted hatred for pretending to be in the group that didn’t have to wear a collar. Maybe I shouldn’t have had anyone watch the video.  Now, I feel terrible.  I wasn’t trying to accuse anyone of anything.”

“We know that. We just feel guilty about our own actions.  How can you love me?”

Kurt moved and straddled Dave’s lap and looked him straight in the eyes.  “You changed.  Your love for me changed you and it changed me.  You apologized and meant it.” Kurt tipped his chin up when he started to look down.  “I love you.”  He kissed Dave gently. “Do you believe me?”

“Yes.”

Kurt wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck and kissed him again.  They were still kissing when they heard the front door open. Kurt slid down in the spot next to Dave.

Judy, Quinn, and Paul came into the room and sat down.

“I’ll go first,” Paul said.  “I realize that I can’t change the past.  I only changed in the present because I love you, Dave.  I couldn’t turn my back on my only son because you were in love with Kurt.  And Kurt, you have done more to change my heart than anyone I can think of. Keep being yourself.  You’re making changes one person at a time.”

“He’s right, honey. You two were the first gay couple I had been around.  And at 16, you two had what I hadn’t ever had despite being married for nearly 30 years.  It made a profound impression on me about how wrong I had been.”

Quinn said, “When you forgave me and immediately offered me the friendship I would not have deigned to even consider a year before that, I was really shocked.  And Mom’s right.  You two are really good together and made me realize that I don’t have to settle.  How’s that go?  ‘Don’t let the jackasses get you down’?”  She winked at him.

“I’m pretty sure it’s ‘Don’t Let the Joneses Get You Down.’”

“Close enough.” She laughed.

Paul said, “We just want you to know that as depressing as it is that this kind of thing is still going on that one person can make a difference.  And now the three of us are trying to be part of the change that needs to happen.  Don’t give up.  And I’m with Quinn.  Don’t let anyone convince you that working towards change is useless.”

Kurt nodded.

Judy said, “Alright, enough deep thought for one afternoon, I need my amazing family of chefs to move to the kitchen and patio to get our cookout started.”


	32. Chapter 32

Kurt knocked on Puck’s door.

“Yeah?”

“It’s Kurt.”

“I meant, come in.”

Kurt opened the door and stepped inside. 

“I have the paint card like you said to bring.  It’s there on the dresser.”

Kurt picked it up and put it in his pocket.  “Thanks”

“We all talked about what furniture to take.  And I was wondering if it would be okay with you for you to take the two chests in the other room, one for you and one for Sarah.  You can take the side tables for yourself.  They’ll take up less floor space and you can each have one.  Dave, Quinn, and I area going to split this set up between us.”

“Yeah, whatever’s fine with me.  I got nothing and Paul’s willing to set me up with a whole apartment full of furniture.  All of it’s nice stuff.  Tall, wide, makes no difference to me.”

“Would it be possible for us to go ahead and switch the stuff tonight?  We’ll help.  We’ll move these side tables and this small dresser to the garage for Dave to refinish while I’m at work.  We’ll move the two tall chests from the other room in here and you can put your clothes in one of them.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Just give me a few minutes to pull my stuff out of this dresser.  We can take the dresser down to the garage once I empty it.”

“We’ll go grab those other side tables and switch them out.”  He texted Dave to come help move stuff.

While Puck was taking stuff out of the dresser, Kurt asked him more questions.  “Silvia and Gabriel are painting her room the second darkest color, right?”

“Um, yeah.”

“So, how about a geometric patterned fabric?  That way it won’t be too grown up like adult grown up flowers or too little kid-ish with a cartoon or Barbie or something.”

“You’re the one who knows about stuff like that.  You went shopping with her.  You know what she likes.  Magenta.  That’s her theme.”

Kurt laughed.

Dave came in.

“Alright, I’ll leave you two to move furniture.  I’m stealing Quinn and going to the fabric store before it closes so I don’t miss out on the fabulous Memorial Day Sale prices.”

Puck laughed.  “You do that.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Let’s go!” Kurt wrapped his arms around Quinn from behind and spun her in a circle.

She laughed at him. “Where are we going?”

“Out.” He walked toward the door.

She shrugged, grabbed her bag off the bench in the foyer, and followed him.  She got in the passenger side and put her seatbelt on. “Are we escaping something?”

“Furniture moving.”

“Ah.  Good plan.  I’m not looking forward to that this weekend.  I’m keeping the bed in the spare room and just attaching my new headboard to it.  Or switching the frame.  Help me figure that out when we get back.”

“I can do that. By the time we get back, there will be room in your new room for your dresser.  I’m going to move my sewing stuff down to the studio. Actually, when we stop, I’ll get Puck and Dave to move my sewing stuff down to the studio.  Oh, and the twin bed too.”

“Bossypants.”

“Delegation is one of my strong points.”

She laughed. “I’ll have to remember that the next time someone calls me a bossy bitch.”

“You’re not a bitch anymore.”

“Ah, but the reputation doesn’t die that easily.”

He sighed. “Well, those of us who matter know that you aren’t.”

“Maybe I am. I’m just less mean overall. I’m still not much for putting up with nonsense.”

Kurt pulled into the lot.

“Fabric?”

“Yep.”

They headed inside and Kurt looked through the different prints along the wall of calico fabric and found a few he liked.  He used the cart to balance and unroll them just a bit more to look at them. He rolled them back up and looked around a little more.  He found a couple of others and he put a couple of the first ones back. After opening them up and making his final choices, he went to the pillow forms.  He chose two large and medium square pillows.  He put them in the cart with the fabric. They went to get in line.

“How much of these?” the employee asked when Kurt put two bolts of fabric down on the counter.

“Four yards, please.”

“Next?”

“A half-yard of these four.”  He placed them on the counter.

The employee measured and cut them. 

“And one and one half yards of these last two.”

She cut the last two pieces, printed the slip, put it on top of the folded fabric, and handed it to him.  “Thank you.”

He handed Quinn a coupon and a $5 and one of the larger square pillows.  She got in line in front of him, paid for the pillow, and waited for him by the door.  Kurt put the cart away and they went outside.

“Sarah and Carlos?”

“Yep.  They’re painting their rooms the colors I kept comparing to everything to.  I didn’t want to talk about it inside the store because this whole town is a bunch of nosy busybodies.”

“That’s the truth.”

“Next stop Wal-Mart, I guess, since we have no Kohl’s or Target.  I’m going to see if I can find one of those fuzzy bed backrests to match.  And I’m getting them each king size pillow.”

“If we find the backrests, maybe can I get them?  I’d like to get them a gift.  A happy new family gift.  There’s no good term for it, but you know what I mean.”

“Sure.  That’s why I making stuff for him too.  I don’t want him to feel like suddenly Sarah is getting all of everyone’s attention.  I know he was in favor of this, but still.”

“He’s been an only child for 9 years. It will be a change for him too.”

“Maybe they’ll have an orange one.  That’s his favorite color still.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt walked through the dining room and kitchen to put the fabric into the washer.  Dave and Puck came down the stairs carrying Kurt’s sewing desk.  Quinn was in the studio putting the bags with the backrests on the sofa.

“I see how it is,” Dave teased.  “He leaves me and Puck here to do the heavy lifting and he takes YOU out shopping.”

“He likes me more, just admit it,” she sassed back.

Kurt came in. “Who likes who more, what?”

“You like me more,” she said.  “You took me shopping and left them with the grunt work.”

He laughed.  “I see.  I think if I had picked Puck to go shopping, he would have taken that as proof that I liked him the least.”

Puck laughed. “Meh.  You’re not so bad to go shopping with.  I just wouldn’t have been any help, other than official bag carrier or something.  What are those monstrosities in the bags?”

“Aren’t they great? Neon colors are obviously back in style for kids.  The pink one is obviously for Sarah and the orange one is for Carlos. They’re backrests, so you can read in bed easily.”

“Nice.”

“All the fabric is in the washer.  I’ll get started on everything tomorrow when I get back from work.”

“Thanks.  She’s going to love it whatever it is. She’s never had anything but a hodgepodge of second-hand stuff.  Nothing ever matched.”  He turned to Dave.  “Let’s get the chair and move the last chest down here.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“It’s weird with the desk and the trunk gone,” Kurt said as they went into their room.

“It is, but now I can get started on the refinishing and painting while you’re at work.”  He double-checked that the door was locked and then undressed.  “Let’s shower.  I’m tired.”

A half-hour later they were sitting in bed looking through the floor plan websites again.

“I want to make sure our bedroom doesn’t end up next to Quinn’s.  I want us to feel free to be ourselves.  I don’t want to have to keep quiet.”  Kurt leaned into Dave and kissed his neck.

“I agree, so we don’t really want one like this where they are mirror images, unless the bedrooms are to the outside edge and not in the center.”

“Let’s get some sleep and look at them again tomorrow.  I know we have to decide this week, but it’s late.”

Dave shut the laptop down and it put the table across the room.  He grabbed the triangle pillows and put them back in closet before he got back in bed.  Kurt was waiting for him and scooted up next to him.  Dave moved his arm so that Kurt could put his head on his chest.

Kurt tipped his head up.  “Kiss me?”

Dave looked down and kissed him.  “They’re going to love the stuff you’re making for their rooms.”

“I hope so.  It’s a lot less expensive than buying all new bedding.  What I got will go with the gray and look girly without looking childish, so she can keep the same stuff for a long time.  And the pattern I got for Carlos is kind of funky retro pattern that just reminds me of him.  And his throw pillows and pillowcase go with the retro fabric.”  He squirmed around and readjusted and wiggled until he was practically lying on Dave.

“You comfy?” he chuckled.

“Mmm hmm. You’re very comfy.  I love you.”

“I love you too.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When Kurt walked into the shop Tuesday morning, he wasn’t really surprised to see Burt there waiting for him.

“Come on into my office once you get changed.”

Kurt nodded.  He changed into his coveralls and did has he had been asked.  “What did you need, Dad?”

“I need you to tell me why you left within a half-hour of getting to the party yesterday.”

Kurt went over to Burt’s computer and pulled up the video that he had asked Paul to watch the day before.  “Watch this and I’ll come back in a half-hour.”  Kurt left and looked through the list of repairs that he needed to work on. He went ahead and collected the parts he need.  He moved the first car on his list into the work bay and got it up on the lift and ready to go. When the half-hour was up, he went back to Burt’s office.

“Okay, so I watched it, but I don’t get what this has to do with yesterday.”

“The kids in that video were 8 or 9, around the same age I was when Mom died.  One kid told me that his mom said that Mom probably killed herself because she had me for a kid, or something along those lines – that Mom died because she couldn’t stand having a weirdo kid like me.”

“What?”

“You heard me. The kids got old enough to pay attention to what was being said in conversations that took place around them in their homes.  They began to pay some attention to what was being said in their churches. But they weren’t old enough to think for themselves.  They just soaked in what the authority figures in their lives said.”

“Okay.”

“So, you saw the video, one day, ONE day of being told that the group with collars were less valuable and kids who had been friends started picking on each other and shunning each other.  When the favored group did their schoolwork in class they did better.  The teacher charted their work and whoever was in the favored group did better and the results stuck with them.  Both sets of kids’ schoolwork improved beyond any normal amount of improvement JUST from being told for a day that they were smarter and better than other people.”

“That’s weird.”

“Look it up yourself and read about it.  She wrote a book too.  Anyway, what this has to do with yesterday is you know Bryce and Mark?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, they were jumping all over me, like usual.  I piggybacked them around the yard, and then I introduced them to Dave.  I thought Candace knew that I was gay. It’s not like it’s a secret. They were standoffish because they didn’t know him.  So, I took them to the side and told them that Dave was my best friend and my boyfriend and I’d like them to try to get to know him.”

“Okay.”

“So, their faces changed immediately and I was told that their grandma told them that boys who like boys are bad and wrong.  I saw that look that I saw in the eyes of the other kids when I was little, even when the kids didn’t know anything about sex and I never said anything about liking boys.  I had one of those collars put on me just by the look in their eyes.  I went from being their pal and someone to play with to being bad and wrong with the mention of having a boyfriend. Between the flashbacks of being rejected over and over and not knowing why and then being told why repeatedly, it’s hard to take.  And from them, it was worse than having a slushie tossed my face.”

“So one of their grandmas is homophobic and she’s already passed it along to them?”

“Yep. That’s why dealing with Finn will be so hard.  You can make him do all of the research in the world, and he can learn that sexual orientation isn’t something that someone chooses, but most of the input from people around him still says that shunning me is okay.  He can learn not to call me the names, but that doesn’t change the underlying feeling that it’s wrong until he makes the decision to feel differently about it.  You were in the same place, but you’ve come a little farther than he has.”

“A little farther? I told you that I loved you just the same when you told me.”

“But if you had really eliminated all of the anti-gay feelings you have, I wouldn’t have had to wonder.  If I really believed that you were on my side, wouldn’t I have talked about it with you BEFORE I was 16?  While you can claim that I hid how bad things were for me, deep down you knew.  You had to have known.  Paul has apologized for having been part of what went on at McKinley back in the 80’s.  I know that you bullied gay guys or non-manly guys regardless of their actual sexual orientation.  You KNEW I was wearing one of those collars.  You knew I had no friends.  You did tell me it was okay to like whatever I wanted to, and I appreciate that.  I would have been a lot more miserable if you had denied me access to the things I enjoyed doing. You were supportive and praised my designs and creations and applauded when I put on shows for you.  That made a huge difference.  I’m not saying that you did everything wrong.  I’m saying that I’m tired of having a permanent collar around my neck and so is every other person who belongs to a minority group that is systematically oppressed in this country.”

“Oppressed.”

“Oppressed. When people decide my worth as a person before they even speak to me.  When people warn their grandkids about people like me. When people won’t hire someone like me.  When an employee won’t help someone like me.  When people can refuse to rent an apartment to people like me.  Now, I know that I am also privileged in ways that other groups aren’t.  Things would be a lot worse for me if I were also a racial and religious minority.  A black, gay Jew – he’d have three strikes against him if he were identifiably Jewish.  I know that I will face this every day of the rest of my life.  This is why gay men kill themselves at a higher rate.  This is why gay teens stay in the closet.”

“You know kids don’t come with manuals, right?  I thought I was doing right by you accepting your hobbies and letting you sew and dance and sing.  It’s a helluva a lot more than my dad would have done.”

“And you did.  And I just told you that appreciate that you supported my interests.  What would have helped would have been for you to outright say that liking boys was an equally valid way to feel as liking girls.  And that liking to sew was an equally valid hobby as going out and shooting birds or whatever.  That liking to read was an equally valid hobby as watching sports on TV.  Remember I was a kid. What I did wasn’t interesting to you.  Just think how differently you would have reacted if I had said I had been reading _Sports Illustrated_ and the sports section of the newspaper instead of a fashion magazine. That would have meant that I was at least a little bit normal.  It’s just been a long few years.  The older I got the more intense the bullying got.  I finally told you about all of it and we were finally getting closer to understanding each other and you ditched me.”

“I didn’t ditch you.”

“You did.  I realize that no one knew that Finn was secretly homophobic, but once that was realized, we should not have been asked to share a room.  They should have stayed in their own place until a mutually agreeable family plan was worked out.  Paul and Judy are getting married this week.  They’ve been together longer than you and Carole.  But now, they’ve been together long enough to know each other and to work through their past issues before moving in together and creating a blended family.  The house rules didn’t change for me and Dave.  I don’t even know what rules Quinn has, if any.  It’s not about that.  We’ve all spent enough time together to be able to get along. And I can guarantee that if you had asked me whether Quinn and I would be good friends two years ago, I would have laughed.  Seriously, think about it.  I live with Puck and Quinn.  McKinley’s former badass and former queen bee bitch with no issues whatsoever.  People can grow up and learn to be tolerant and accepting.  It’s just that Finn doesn’t want to.  And you’re an enabler – at least you were initially.  You’re less so now, but have no idea whether you’ve quit completely.”

“I don’t know what you mean by that, but this isn’t explaining that video and why you left.”

“Right.  I’m miserable trying to be someone else. Imagine if you put all of your effort, time, and thought into imitating me.  If you spent every waking moment trying to figure out how to be just like me.  It’s exhausting to be someone you aren’t.  And I’m done trying.  If Candace doesn’t want her boys to spend time around me because I’m a bad influence, then so be it, but I don’t have to stand around and be shunned. You have your new family and I hope you are happy.  I really, really mean that.  I love you and all I want for you is for you to be happy.”

“Kurt.”

“What?”

“I love you and want you to be happy too.”

“Then I guess you’re just going to have to figure out how accept that I won’t stay around where I’m going to be shunned.  That’s not the road to happiness for me.  Maybe think about this.  You’re going bald.”

“Yeah.”

“Did you choose to go bald?  Did you shave your head intentionally?”

“You know I didn’t.”

“Wearing a hat doesn’t make you not bald.  It just covers over the bald spot.  I can dress more masculine.  You’ve seen me do it.    You can wear different kinds of hats.  You can even shave your remaining hair, but the instant someone sees even the faintest amount of stubble or a couple of hairs that you missed, they’re going to know that you’re balding.”

“Right.”

Kurt modulated his speaking voice to a lower pitch.  “I can intentionally lower my speaking voice to not sound so feminine.” He went back to his normal pitch. “I can play sports and be good at it.  But none of those things changes the fact that I’m gay.”

“I see your point.”

“What if – really think about this – what if when you walked in stores, the sales clerks walked the other way because they didn’t like bald people?  What if you were systematically denied decent human interaction because you were bald.  It’s not like being a person of color.  You can hide being bald, but people can still tell.  You could go to a lot of trouble and expense to get a human hair wig that fits perfectly and fool a lot of people, but you’ll always know that one wrong move and your cover could be blown.  Maybe it would be worth it to some people.  Some people have no choice because coming out could get them killed.  They’re putting their wigs on as tight as they can every day just to make it through.  Maybe sometimes I’ll have to do that.  But in my own father’s backyard at an event I was invited to, I shouldn’t have to be someone I’m not.”

Burt nodded.  “I get it.”

Kurt slowly took a deep breath and turned away from Burt and walked towards the office door.  “I’m going to go get busy on that car so the owner can pick it up this afternoon like the ticket says.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When Kurt got home from work that afternoon, he looked around but didn’t find Dave anywhere. He unfolded the twin bed frame and measured it carefully and made Sarah’s dust ruffle.  He was putting it on the frame to make sure that the fit was right when Dave came into the studio through the door to the garage.

“That looks really good.”

“Thanks.  Next is the valance.  It will be made out of the same fabric as this. After that I have two throw pillow covers to make.  And then I have the same things to do for Carlos.”  He stood up and left the dust ruffle on the frame.

Dave stepped closer and wrapped his arms around him.  “I had to run to Lowe’s to get another pack of those sponge brushes.  I sanded both side tables and painted them. My hands were getting tired from all the sanding and I saw that I was out the sponge brushes to do the staining tomorrow, so I took a break and went to get them.  I wandered around the store for a while too, looking at things like light fixtures, doorknobs, and outlet covers.  All of the little things that you’ve probably already thought about, but came to mind when I was there.”

Kurt kissed him. “You’ve made a lot of progress already on the furniture then.”

“Oh, and I dropped off some boxes of stuff my dad cleaned out of his closet and the closet in Quinn’s room.  I moved the few boxes you still had in there up to our room for you to go through.”

“You’ve been busy.”

“I’m going to put the second coat of paint on Quinn’s side tables next since she’s moving in this week.  When you run out of things to sew, you can use that metallic paint you used on Quinn’s words you got her and spray paint the brass lamp bases in her room.  She likes the style, but obviously her accent stuff is silver.  She’s going to get new shades for them.  She came by to pick one of the old ones up so she would get the right kind.”

“I can do that. I should probably do it now so they can dry all day tomorrow.  I’ll go back to the sewing afterwards.  It doesn’t need time to dry to be put on the bed on Saturday.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Wednesday Kurt got off at 2:00.  When he got home, he showered quickly, did his hair, and put on the suit Judy had chosen.  Dave was waiting for him and they went down to the courthouse together. 

Paul wore a black suit with a pale green shirt and a coordinating paisley tie.  Judy wore a green calf-length dress with sheer long sleeves.  She went through the three teen’s clothing and chose outfits for them that she liked with her dress.  The ceremony only took ten minutes, and after a few pictures, Paul and Judy were ready to leave.

They went to the Greek restaurant they all liked and had a late lunch.  Kurt had called them earlier that morning and asked for a small dessert sampler tray.  Judy was surprised and they all enjoyed it. 

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After they left the restaurant, Kurt and Dave took Quinn to help her load up her headboard, dresser, chair, desk, clothes, and boxes from her room into the Navigator, Dave’s truck, and her car.  When the three of them got back to the house, they Kurt and Dave unloaded the dresser from the Navigator first.  Quinn followed them up with the headboard.

They put the chest of drawers on the short wall That had previously been empty between where the door opened back and the door to the walk in closet.  While Quinn and Kurt attached the headboard to the bed frame, Dave brought the drawers up.

“I’m not redoing your closet here but you should have plenty of room since it’s a walk-in closet, but I will do your new closet the way we did your current one or you can come up with something you think will work better after we pick a floor plan. Let’s go get the rest of your stuff and at least sit it in the studio or the foyer.”

Once everything was inside, they started taking it all upstairs.  Her reading chair and desk went along the front wall where Kurt’s sewing table had been.  They left the space on both sides of the window where the two chests had been empty so they could put Quinn’s bookshelves around the window. 

Kurt took the bed linens downstairs and started washing them.  Dave went to check on the lamps and the side tables.  He found Kurt in the studio neatly packing Sarah’s stuff in the bottom of the bag with her backrest in it.

“You could go get those Legos wherever they are and we can put them with this stuff.”

“Sure.  I think the side tables and the lamps can go up now.  The lamps are dry too.”  He took one up and came down a few minutes later and put the box of Legos on the sofa.

“Once everything is washed and dried, I’ll fold it and put it in a trash bag, and put it in here too.” 

Kurt followed him up carrying the two lamps.  Quinn had the shades on the bed.  Once they got the lamps and tables in place, she put the shades on.

“I like them,” she said.

“They look great with your stuff and completely different than they did before.”  Kurt picked her sheers up off the bed.  “I’ll be back up after I iron these.  We can put these up as soon as I come back up.” 

“That was quick,” she said when he came back 10 minutes later.

He put her sheer curtains up.  “I’ll leave you to unpacking your clothes.  We’ll bring the bookcases on Saturday once we have the U-Haul.”

“Thanks for your help. I already thanked Dave. This went a whole lot faster than I had expected.  And the peach walls don’t look bad with my stuff like I thought it might.”

“It wouldn’t be my first choice, but it does go just fine unlike pale green or baby blue.”

“Eww, you’re right. That would look bad.  I’ll get to unpacking.”

He looked at the room from the doorway.  “It’s really almost a mirror image of your room.  It’s a little bigger and you’re dresser isn’t in the closet. Otherwise, it’s just a flip flop of the way everything was before.”

“It is,” she said as she put box up on her bed to unpack.

“If you need anything we’ll probably be in the garage working on the small dresser.  I have a few things to do in our room first though.  Just text whoever you need.”

“Will do.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The rest of the week went by quickly with Kurt spending the evenings sewing and everyone sorting through their own things to remove things that they no longer needed and Judy packing up the rest of their stuff.

Saturday morning, Paul picked up the U-Haul and went to Judy’s house first.  Kurt and Dave met him there.  They loaded Quinn’s shelves, the dining table and chairs, and all of the living room furniture into the U-Haul.  When they got home, they unloaded everything into the studio and began loading everything that was going to Columbus into the U-Haul. 

Puck followed in his truck, as did Kurt, Dave, and Quinn in the Navigator.  They went to Nana Ruth’s house first and dropped off Paul’s bed and all of the bed linens from the room that was now Quinn’s.  Puck left and followed Paul to the Garcia’s to get started unloading things there. 

Quinn and Dave put all of the bed linens on and Kurt put the curtain rod up they brought with them and hung up the valence.  The room was pretty crowded, but she insisted on keeping the bunk bed/futon for when Sarah and Puck came to visit.  Once they had everything set up, they took Nana Ruth with them and headed to the Garcia’s as well.

Silvia kept the kids in the family room while the teens hauled everything in and got it set up in Sarah’s room.  Kurt and Quinn stayed behind to put the bedding on and the valences up.  Quinn worked on Carlos’ room while Kurt worked on Sarah’s. Nana Ruth joined Kurt.

“Thank you for doing this for her.  It’s hard not to blame myself for all of this, but I really can’t pinpoint where I went wrong in raising their mother.  I knew their father was trouble.  He came to Columbus to party.  He was 22.  She was 18 and a senior in high school.  They met in a dance club.  I tried to keep her away from him, but she was stubborn and he was good looking and a charming womanizer.  She got pregnant around Hanukkah.  She managed to hide the pregnancy that semester.  She told me after her graduation ceremony.  She left and went to live with him in Lima the next day.  He eventually married her, but he ran around on her.  When she got pregnant a second time, he was livid.  Eventually, he just vanished.  I tried to get her to move back here with me, but she was still so stubborn.  She kept saying that he’d be back.  She was my only child and I didn’t have her until I was nearly 30.  I’m glad for Sarah, but it’s hard to see someone else be a mother to your grandchild while your own daughter sits in jail. I tried to go see her, you know. She refused my visit. Anyway, I’ll head back to the family room.  I just wanted to thank you.”

“You’re welcome. And as bad as everything has been for them, hopefully this is a turning point.  Puck’s going to be able to go college or study whatever he wants and go on and live his life without constantly worrying about keeping a roof over Sarah’s head and being a dad to her.”

She nodded and left the room.

Dave and Puck were able to go ahead and put Puck’s stuff in the room since the drywall was up. They just left it all in the center so the walls could be painted more easily.  Once they were finished, they went back in the house to do the room reveals.

Puck opened the door to Sarah’s new room. “It looks amazing.  She’s going to love this.  I’m going to go get her.  She hasn’t spent the night here yet.  She’s been staying all day, and then going to Nana’s to sleep. Tonight will be her first night to stay over.  Paul said everything was finalized with the court yesterday.”  Puck went to get Sarah and everyone else.

Dave stepped in from the hallway.  “It really does look good.”  He stepped back out. He peeked into Carlos’s room as well.  “I like it. It’s funky, like you said. Very him.”

Kurt closed the doors to both rooms.  They waited in the hall for just a couple of minutes.  Suddenly he was met with an armful of Sarah and then Carlos.

“We want to see,” she said.  “Can we open the doors?”

“Sure, squirt.  Which one first?”

They looked at each other.

“I already know what mine will look like more or less because I picked out the stuff.  I just haven’t seen it in my room yet. Sarah can go first.”

“Open the door and go in, then, squirt,” Puck said.

She reached for the doorknob and turned it and pushed the door open.  “Oh, wow!  It’s so cool!  I love the pink walls and I have a desk and a chest.”  She climbed up on the bed and leaned against the backrest and picked up the throw pillows.  “And I have this cool thing to lean on when I read and extra pillows.  And a huge pillow to sleep on.  I love all of it!  Thank you, Noah.”

“Don’t thank me, squirt.  I just helped bring it here.”

She turned and looked at Kurt.  “You?”

He nodded. “Except the backrest is from Quinn.”

“Thank you, both. I have my own room and it’s perfect!  Come on, Carlos. Let’s go see your room.” 

He reached for the doorknob and said, “I picked light turquoise for the walls.  Orange is still my favorite color though, but we thought orange walls might be too bright.  I got some orange sheets at Wal-Mart and I got a fluffy bright turquoise comforter.  I don’t have one of those fabric things for the bottom of my bed though.”  He opened the door and let everyone step inside.

“You don’t?” Kurt sort of teased.

Carlos came in and looked at his bed.  “I have one too!  And extra square pillows and a huge pillow to sleep on and one of those backrests, but it’s orange!  They didn’t have any cool patterns like this at the store.  Where did these come from?”

“I made them, but you can buy them in stores usually, but the selection of fabric choices is pretty limited.”

“Thank you. When I get bigger, I want to learn to sew so I can make cooler looking things than the stuff in stores.”

“I started when I was your age.  Watch some videos and see if you really think you want to do it.  It takes time and patience.”

“So does making big Lego things.”

Kurt turned and looked at Dave, who was standing in the hall looking in through the doorway.  He went down to the Navigator to get the box of Legos.

“You’re right. It does.”

He climbed up on the bed and leaned against the backrest like Sarah had done.  He looked at Quinn.  “Is my backrest from you too?”

“Yes,” she answered.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Take my picture with all my cool new bed stuff,” Carlos said.

Silvia and Kurt took out their phone and took a picture of him.

“Do mine too!” Sarah ran back across the hall, got on her bed, and leaned up against hers.

Silvia followed her and took her picture.  Kurt took a close up and another one that showed the whole bed, like he had done in Carlos’ room.

She pointed to her window.  “I just saw there’s a tiny curtain at the top of the blinds.”

“It’s called a valance.”

“It’s like the …”

“Dust ruffle.”

“The dust ruffle.” She hopped back down and went back across the hall.  Kurt and Puck followed her.  “You have one too, Carlos”

“One what?” he asked.

She pointed to his window.  “A valance that matches your dust ruffle.”

“It’s cool.  I really like the pattern and the colors.”

Dave came in with the box in his hand.  “I brought these for the two of you.”  He handed it to Sarah and she got up on Carlos’ bed with him to open it.

“Oh, wow!  Lots of Lego pieces!” she said.

“Thanks!  These are awesome.  Look, Sarah.  There’s wheels so we can make more cars.”

She looked through them for a couple of minutes, and then abruptly said, “Silv-.” And stopped and started again.  “Mom, are we going to Chuck E Cheese soon?  I’m hungry.”

“Yes.  As soon as you’re ready, we’ll go.”

“Get your shoes, Carlos.  I’ll go get mine. Let’s go!”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt followed Paul to the U-Haul drop off locations and he got in the Navigator with them to go to Chuck E Cheese.  They ended up arriving not too long after the Garcias and Puck and Nana Ruth. The six of them were waiting outside for them.  They all went in together.  They were greeted as they went in the door.

“Welcome to Chuck E Cheese!  Are you celebrating something today?”

Sarah spoke up. “We are.  We’re celebrating that I got a new mom and dad.  And a brother.”  She pointed to Silvia, Gabriel, and Carlos.”

“Well, that is a great thing to celebrate!  I hope you have a great time.”

“I know we will. Bye!” she took Carlos’ hand and ran off to find a big table.

Nana Ruth and Puck followed them.

“She seems to be taking it well,” Kurt said.

Silvia responded, “She’s been like this from the first time we mentioned it.  She’s super sweet.  The only thing is that she says she feels bad for Nana Ruth because she’ll be alone.  We just keep reassuring her that we’ll take her to see Ruth whenever she wants to go and that she can invite her over for dinner when she wants to.  She’s lived with her for a year and nine months.”

“Maybe Nana Ruth can remind her that she lived on her own before Sarah came to stay with her. Sarah’s young and may not have thought about that part.  I’m not sure how long ago her husband died, but it seems to have been a while because Puck never talks about him.”

“Neither does Sarah. I think it must have been when she was very little or maybe before she was even born.  I’ll talk to Ruth about reassuring Sarah that she’ll be fine since she still gets to see Sarah and Noah.”

They sat at the table that the kids had found. 

“We want pepperoni pizza,” Carlos said.

Gabriel asked, “Any other requests?”

Nana Ruth asked, “How about a plain cheese as well?”

“I’ll go order those and drinks,” Gabriel said.  “I’ll bring the cups back.”

Paul followed him. 

“I’ll pay for ours,” Paul said.  “We’ll have the salad bar and maybe just a single piece of pizza, if you don’t mind.”

“That’s fine.  I just know that the kids want you to eat pizza here with us.  They’ve been planning this all week.”  He laughed.

“I bet,” Paul said. “I’ve never been to one of these before, but I definitely see the appeal.”

Silvia and Ruth took the kids to the playland while they waited for the pizzas.  The teens stayed at the long table, keeping it from being snatched by another large group of customers.  When Paul and Gabriel came back, they went to the salad bar and started to eat, knowing that they should eat their fill before the pizzas arrived because the kids would want to play games as soon as they finished eating, which wouldn’t take long given their excitement. 

Once the pizzas arrived, they took the kids to the bathroom and had them wash their hands.  After Carlos and Sarah quickly ate two slices of pizza, they took off with the tokens Gabriel gave them just as expected, with the teens following after them.  They came back a few minutes later, and pulled Gabriel and Silvia out of their seats.

“Come on,” Carlos insisted.  “You have to sit with us and let the computer draw a picture of all four of us.  You can eat more afterwards.”

After everyone had finished eating, Paul decided to head out to let the actual family members enjoy their time together.  He collected Kurt, Dave, and Quinn on their way out.

“Hey, Sarah. We’re going to head back to Lima now.  We have some more things we need to get done today.  There’s a bunch of furniture sitting in our studio that needs to get moved around.  Judy and Quinn are moving in with us.  Did anyone tell you that Judy and Paul got married?”

She shook her head, but she was obviously debating something.  “So, Dave got a new sister too?  And a new mom?  And Quinn got a new dad?”

“They did.”

“You should go celebrate with them too.”

Kurt said, “We did have a nice meal the day they got married, but you’re right.  Maybe we should do something else to celebrate. Maybe I should make a cake.”

“That sounds like a good idea.  Thank you for all of my awesome stuff in my bedroom.”

Carlos said, “I really like mine too.  Now, we both have really cool big kid rooms.  My room still had the stuff in it from when I first got a regular bed instead of a crib, but now it’s awesome and cool and not baby-fied.”

“I’m really excited,” Sarah said.  “I’m staying over tonight.  And then forever.”

“I’m excited for you. And you’re welcome about the bedroom stuff.  I’m glad you both like it.”

The four of them headed out after a few more goodbyes.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When they got back to Lima, Kurt and Dave moved the furniture into place with Paul’s help as well.  Judy had finished cleaning her place and brought over the odds and ends leftovers and her cleaning supplies while they were gone.  Everything from her kitchen was in boxes in the studio, but she had taken her clothes and stuff upstairs.

She was in the master bedroom putting her clothes in the closet when they carried her bed upstairs.  She hadn’t spent the night at the Karofsky’s yet.  She had gone back to her place each evening and worked on packing, but not anymore.  That evening would be her first night staying over. 

Kurt and Dave set the bed up and put her dresser where Paul’s had been.  They put Paul’s dresser in Puck’s room for the time being since they had taken his to Columbus.  They left his clothes on the bed just like he had left them for him to deal with when he came back the next day.  They brought down the TV stand that was in their room and put it in Puck’s room, leaving it at the end of the bed for Puck to deal with as well.

They went to the garage and retrieved the small dresser that Dave had refinished and carried it up to the bedroom.  They went back down for the drawers and brought them up.  After he put the two drawers in his hands in the dresser, Kurt flopped back on the floor.

“I’m disgusting. Too disgusting to sit on the furniture.  I’m going to shower before we do anything else, even if I end up showering again later.”

Dave followed him to the bathroom. 

Twenty minutes later, Kurt was sitting on the futon snuggled into Dave’s side, looking around the room.  “Well, the trunk looks good with our bedroom stuff, and the small dresser matches the futon and the table and chairs.  You did good.  It all looks great.” He kissed Dave on the neck. “Now we just have to somehow make it fit in this room.  The TV cart you had was on wheels.  The dresser obviously isn’t.  After we figure this out, I’m done for the day.  We need to work on the floor plans.”

They moved things around until they were satisfied.  They put all of their movies and games on their sides with the spines up in two of the drawers.  They put Kurt’s Wii and controlers in the drawer with the games since the TV only had one HDMI port and they had to leave the Wii unplugged unless they were playing it anyway.

“I was wrong,” Kurt said.  “I need to go through these boxes first or we’re going to trip over them.”

Once he had finished, he took what he wasn’t keeping down to the garage.  He came back up and pushed the box of magazines toward the closet.  He made room by putting some of his shoes on top of it.  He came out of the closet and flopped back on the bed.

“Come resuscitate me.”

Dave laughed.

“I ask for a life saving intervention and you laugh?”  He harrumphed and then laughed when he felt the bed give way on both sides and he felt Dave’s lips pressed against his.

“I would never leave you in a state of distress.”  He kissed him again. “Usually you’re less dramatic and just ask to be kissed.”

He wrapped his arms around Dave’s back.  He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, trying to relax. “Kiss me?”

“Any time.”  He kissed him again.  “I have the laptop set up.  Get your graph paper and ruler and come sit with me and let’s do this so we can show Dad and Judy.”

“Task master.”

“Drama king.”

Kurt pulled him down closer and kissed him.  “I love you.”

“I love you too. Come on.”  Dave pushed back and stood back up.  He held his hands out to Kurt. 

Kurt reached up and let Dave pull him up to standing.  “Alright.  Let’s do it.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sunday morning Kurt, Dave, and Quinn went back to Judy’s house.  Kurt and Dave replaced the trim in Quinn’s room from when they removed the bookshelves while Quinn started painting the white wall with the leftover yellow paint.  They were packing up everything in Dave’s truck when Judy pulled up. The realtor pulled up behind her. Quinn took the key for the house off her keyring and gave it to the realtor to put in the lockbox that she had brought to put on the house so it could be shown anytime.

When they got back home, Kurt and Dave reassembled Quinn’s bookshelves around the window in her room.  She finished emptying the boxes in her room while the two of them made lunch.

When she came down to eat with them, she brought the flattened boxes and put them in the studio with the others.  She picked up several and slid them under the sofa and stacked the others between the sofa and the wall to get them out of the way.  She went into the dining room and plopped in her chair.

“Thanks for making me lunch and basically moving most of my stuff and putting my shelves up.”

Dave said, “You’re welcome.”

Kurt took his phone out of his pocket and looked at the pictures from the day before.

Quinn looked over at his phone.  “They’re such cuties.”

“I thought it was cool that they completely redid Carlos’ room as well.  His life is going to change as much as hers.  When we were leaving, I told her that Paul and Judy got married and she was quick to point out that you got a new brother and a new dad and that Dave got a new sister and a new mom.  She’s really excited.  So is Carlos.”

Dave said, “I’m glad she’s getting a family.  Not that Puck isn’t her family, but he felt so responsible for her.  Now, they can be together again for a while and he can know that when he finishes his training or college or whatever, that he can still be part of her life, as her brother and not her parent.”

Kurt said, “It’s really weird to think about not seeing Puck anymore in 10 weeks.  Or anyone else two weeks after that.  Maybe sooner for the two of you, if you go ahead to New York with Judy to get things ready.”

“It is weird,” Quinn agreed.  “So is knowing what to call Paul.”

“And what to call Judy,” Dave said.

“I can try to call him ‘dad’.  I never really called my father that very often.  I still called him ‘daddy’ as lame as that may seem.”

“I did call my mother ‘mom’, so it seems weird to call someone else that, but my mother doesn’t want the job and quit.  So did your father.  The adoptions should be finalized soon – this week I think.  Your father didn’t contest and signed the forms. My mother signed away her rights when she left.  So, it’s just a matter of the papers going before the judge and him signing them.”

Quinn said, “I’m going to pretend like I’m in third grade again and practice my signature. Once we get the papers, I’ll have to go get a new driver’s license and go to the bank to get a new debit card. Quinn Karofsky will take some time to get used to.”

“I’ll be he odd one out,” Kurt said. 

“You can be a Karofsky too,” she teased.  “Just marry Dave.”

“Well, we’d have to be 18 first, and then we’d have to go to one of the five states that actually allows gay marriage and New York isn’t one of them.”

“Which states?” Quinn asked.

“Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, and New Hampshire.  There’s legislation in the works in New York,” Kurt said. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Dave said, “So, when we move, what are we going to say when people ask us questions?  I don’t really want to talk about my mother leaving and you probably have things you don’t want to talk about either.”

“I’m just going to leave out where exactly in Ohio I’m from and the fact that I had a baby at 15. Maybe I won’t even say where I moved from, something vague like ‘the Midwest’.  I’ll sing and I’ll dance.  I’m not going to cheer.  I think I would rather just pretend that we’ve always been siblings. My birthday is 8 months after yours.  It is biologically possible that we have the same mother.  It’s not like we have birthdays a week apart like you and Kurt. And it’s not like we’d go around talking about things we did together when we were five to people.  ”

“That’s true.  I will go along with whatever you want because you have a lot more to lose by people finding out things that you don’t want them to know.  It’s already going to be unusual that our parents let us live in apartments on our own instead of with them.  And the fact that Kurt and I have lived as a couple since we were 16 is unusual as well.”

“I’m not playing football,” Kurt said.

“Then I won’t either. I’d still like to play hockey somehow.”

“Let’s clean the dishes up and talk more afterwards,” Quinn said.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Paul and Judy came back before they finished the dishes.  When they came in they sat down at the dining table. Kurt dried his hands, went upstairs, and brought his laptop and their drawing back down.  He sat down at the table with them and started showing them the changes.  Dave and Quinn came in when they finished and stood behind Kurt so they could see too.

“I’ll have to contact an architect and see what it would cost to do these changes.  I also need to see if there are any building restrictions that would prevent us from building this on that property.  It will take up most of the property along the street along the side of the property.  And even with a 3-car garage, we’ll have two more vehicles that have to be parked somewhere.”

“We’re continuing to look at places online too.  At this point, a triplex with 2-bedrooms in each unit would be a good option as well because it would be more suited for parking five vehicles. But for now, at least we’re over the hump of getting everything into one house and we’re all living together now. Maybe we could find a 3-bedroom place with a den or a 4-bedroom place to rent for a year and build something suitable during that time period.”

“That’s true,” Kurt said.

Judy said, “I wanted to thank you both for helping us with everything.”

“You’re welcome,” Dave said.

“I have a question,” Kurt said.  “As much as I enjoy dancing with Quinn, I think we need to take the advanced class instead of, or in addition to, the pairs class.  When we went that day, the dance teacher at the school said that if we were moving that she could give us lessons over the summer through a dance school there that would get us ready for the advanced class at the school next fall.  Otherwise, Quinn and I will have to spend the whole school year in the intermediate class at school.”

“If you give me the contact information, I’ll see what I can find out.”

“It’s here,” Kurt shower her his phone.

She put the information in her own phone.  “I’ll have Quinn call with me during the daytime.  We need to find out what it is that you two need to be able to do that you can’t already do and see if the teacher in Findlay can just give the two of you private lessons over the summer to get you to where you need to be for the advanced class in the fall.”

“Thanks,” Kurt said.

“It’s no problem. I hope the boxes aren’t a bother in the studio.”

Kurt responded. “They’re fine.  You put them up against the wall with the piano. They’re completely out of the way.”

Judy changed the subject.  “I think we need to discuss the laundry.  With so many of us here in the house now, I think we may need a schedule. I’m going to assign Puck to Sunday evening because it’s the only time he really has available.  Kurt? Paul?”

Kurt said, “Thursdays?”

“Sure.  Paul?”

“Um, Monday?”

“Alright.  No one else should use the laundry room Sunday, Monday or Thursday evenings.  I’ll let Puck know.  Quinn, Dave, and I are home during the daytime.  Day choice?”

Dave said, “Thursday.”

“Friday,” Quinn said.

“I’ll take Monday. Anyone can use the laundry room any of the non-selected times.  Seem reasonable?”

Everyone nodded.

“We’ll have to go to the store more often.  Dave and Kurt can still make their weekly trip, but I will go a second time each week to fill in if we need it.  We may want to discuss a weekly menu just for the summer at some point. It really depends on who ends up where.”

Paul said, “Dave will be in charge of lawn care this summer since he’s not going to be getting a job. He can do it in the mornings while Kurt’s at work.  Quinn will be taking over cleaning the bathroom in the hallway upstairs and the half bath down here.  Judy will work on the front flowerbeds to get them looking decent.  None of us is particularly messy, but once we put the house on the market, we need to make sure that there are no dirty dishes left in the sink and that the bathrooms are presentable at all times. Also, be sure to keep cash or easy-to-pocket expensive items inside a dresser or somewhere safe. Realtors do stay with potential buyers, but when a couple comes, especially if they bring kids, the realtor can end up distracted.”

They nodded.

Paul continued. “About your friends... Azimio is working for his brother, I assume.”

Kurt answered. “Yes.  And Tina went back to the Asian Camp.  Mercedes went to Indianapolis again.  Sam is working crazy stupid hours that fluctuate, so planning things with him will only be like a day to a week in advance. Artie’s at home, of course.”

Dave said, “I’m going to go over there and play games in person once a week.  We haven’t picked a day yet.  Mike went to the Asian Camp again too.  Santana and Brittany aren’t working.”

“I’m going to be seriously bored out of my mind,” Dave said.  “Maybe I could enroll in an online math course or something.”

Paul said, “Look into it.  See what the college you like offers or where they’ll accept transfer credits from.  Maybe you could take it online through OSU or something.”

“I’ll do that.”

“I think that’s it,” Paul said.  He shooed them off. “Go do teenager things.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt and Dave did laundry because they hadn’t done it the week before since they had been so busy working on their projects.  They were done by the time they started their Sunday time to themselves. They took food up to their room on their last trip up the stairs.

“Do you want to eat or shower first?” Kurt asked.

“None of this will spoil, so let’s shower first.”  He sat the tray on the dresser.

Kurt stripped down to his underwear in the closet and came back out.  He turned some music on and started to dance around seductively. Dave turned around when the music started.  He stayed in place, struck by Kurt’s flowing and sultry moves.  Kurt pulled him into the open space in the room and began to use him as a prop for his dance.  As he danced around Dave, he began to run his hands along Dave’s neck and shoulders.  He pressed flush against him and ran his fingers through Dave’s hair.  He moved before Dave could kiss him and moved around behind him and grabbed Dave’s t-shirt and began slipping it up slowly until Dave finally lost patience with the pace and pulled it off.  Kurt reached around and unbuttoned and unzipped Dave’s shorts, which he quickly stepped out of and kicked away.  Kurt moved in and out, but never quite close enough for Dave to kiss, and he dropped or spun out of Dave’s reach when he tried to hold onto him.  As the song ended, Kurt swaggled away into the bathroom.

Dave followed him as soon as his brain reengaged.  Kurt had managed to get into the shower with the water running by the time Dave stepped into the room.  He undressed the rest of the way and followed Kurt into the shower.

Kurt removed the sprayer and let Dave get wet.  He put it back up and grabbed Dave’s shampoo.  He began by washing Dave’s hair.  After Kurt rinsed Dave’s hair, but before Dave opened his eyes, Kurt kissed him touching only their lips.  After he put the sprayer up, he pressed Dave back into the shower wall and kissed him breathless.  Kurt smiled and grabbed Dave’s washcloth and gave him a very provocative look and continued.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They sat at their table and ate their dinner in their boxer briefs.

“You know I never, ever thought that I would be the type of person to sit around in my underwear and eat dinner.  I was never comfortable enough in my own skin to let that much of my skin show unless I was in the shower.  And I had that fluffy robe I own to put on as soon as I dried off.  I never even stood around in the bathroom undressed after I got out of the shower.  I hid my body from everyone, even myself.”

“By the time you let me touch you in there, I was going crazy with how bad I wanted you, in case you hadn’t figure that out already.  I guess I never thought about it, but I’ve never felt that comfortable either.  Going through puberty younger and growing bigger than everyone else brought on ridicule as well.  I always felt like I took up too much space.  Everyone was so much smaller for a while.  And that feeling didn’t just automatically go away.”

“The magical word ‘normal’ that means nothing and everything.”

“Normal is boring. You are…” He bit lower lip and let it slip lose.  Not that I’ve looked at any in ages, but you dancing for me like that was hotter than any porn I’ve ever seen.  You are so sexy.”

“Thank you.  You make me feel sexy.  The way you look at me.  The things you say.”  Kurt searched out Dave’s foot with his own and started playing footsie under the table.

When they finished their food, Dave took their stuff in the bathroom, rinsed it, put it back on the tray, and left it on the bathroom counter.  Kurt pulled the covers back on the bed and put their reading pillows on the bed.  He grabbed both of their books and put Dave’s on his side of the bed.

“Pick some reading music,” Kurt said when Dave came out of the bathroom.

He started a CD, grabbed his book and sat down next to Kurt.

“Samurai?” Kurt asked.

“Looked interesting. If it’s not, I’ll move on.”

“That reminds me. When I was checking for DVD releases this month, I saw _White Collar_ Season 2 listed.  I hadn’t heard of it, but the short description sounded interesting, so I looked it up.  It’s sounds fun. Let’s watch the first episode on Netflix later and see if we like it.”

“Sure.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When they were about halfway through the second episode of _White Collar_ , someone knocked on their door. 

“Coming!” Kurt hopped up and grabbed a t-shirt and pajama pants for both of them and tossed Dave’s to him.  He looked back to make sure Dave had them on and he opened the door to find Puck standing there, freshly showered with wet hair still.

“Come on in, Puck.” Kurt crossed the room and sat on the ottoman, giving Puck room to sit on the futon.

Puck sat down and let out a loud “whew”.  “I put the second coat of paint the whole studio today after doing the first coat last night.  I’m beat.  I’ve obviously been doing the wrong work out.  Pushing a super lightweight roller up and down a wall requires muscles I must never use.”

Kurt laughed. “Dave knows all about that. You should try yoga.  My arms didn’t bother me near as much as his did after we painted Quinn’s room and half of my dad’s house.”

“I’ll think about it, for real.  It’s something I could get a DVD and do in that studio apartment.  And it works for you.”

No one said anything for a couple of minutes. 

“I did the right thing, but it hurts still.  Nana and I talked to her before we left her there last night.  She’s still thrilled.  She’s already calling Silvia and Gabriel ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ all the time.”

“They seem like really good people,” Kurt said.

“They are.  Next weekend, I get to do the flooring. Gabriel’s going to help me. We’re renting the right kind of saw for Saturday.  The room isn’t that big, so hopefully we can get it done quickly.  Once the floor is down, the kitchen cabinets and the appliances can be brought in and the bathroom can be finished out.”

“If you don’t mind me being nosy, who is paying for all of this?”

“We’re splitting it. I’ve been saving up to get a place.  You know, first and last month’s rent, a deposit for the electric, gas, and water.  I’m using that money towards the studio. They had saved up to adopt, and Paul did the whole thing pro bono and since there was no agency, they didn’t have to pay adoption fees.  So, they’re paying the other half.”

“That seems reasonable.  I had no idea how much it is, but even if it’s $5000 and you live there five years, that’s $1000 a year and less than $100 a month.  That’s less than an electric bill would be per month.”

“Yeah.  It’s a great deal for me.  It just feels so weird leaving everything behind. It’s exciting, but scary too. I’m getting what I’ve wanted for a long time – getting to start over and be who I want to be.  No one will associate me with my pop there. The name Puckerman won’t bring up anything in anyone’s mind.  I need another shopping trip with you, oh great and wise shopping ninja.”

Kurt laughed. “Just let me know when.  Probably the sooner the better.  Do some online browsing first.  Look at American Eagle, Old Navy, H&M, even Sears. Take screen shots of outfits that you like, so I get a feel for what you’re going for.”

“Actually, the kind of clothes that Dave wears would be fine.  I want some stuff that can be good for finishing high school and then good to wear for the next four years after that.  Just sturdy, normal guy clothes.  I’m going to try to cut down on the badassness a bit. I’m not looking to dress like Artie or a nerd of any type – just normal button-ups and hoodies.  You can look through my clothes and see what’s salvageable.”

“I think the biggest change you need is your jeans and shoes.  Boots are good, but let’s find you a new pair of solidly constructed leather boots.  Ones you can polish and keep in good shape.  You can get some new trainers too.  Your jeans need to fit better – a different cut and at least one size smaller around the waist.  The baggy gangster saggy jeans ruin the effect of anything else you put on.”

“Sure.  But I’m not wearing skinny jeans.”

“I don’t wear skinny jeans,” Dave insisted.

“I know, dude. Jeans like Dave’s are fine.”

Kurt said, “So, maybe in three weeks.  That will give you time to finish the studio up.”  He got up to get his phone.  “How about four weeks?  That’s July 2nd.  There will probably be some Fourth of July sales.”

Puck pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened his calendar.  “Yeah.  That works.  The Fourth is a Monday, so I’d still get two days with Sarah and Nana.”

“Works for me.” Kurt marked the day in his calendar.

“I better get downstairs.  Judy told me I’ve been given the laundry room to myself on Sunday evenings.  And I need to get that stuff in my room straightened up. Thanks for the TV stand.”

“You’re welcome. You can see how the dresser looks now.”  Kurt pointed.

“Oh, yeah.  I was thinking and not even paying attention.  It looks good. I better go get with it.” He stood up.  “Thanks again for everything.”

Kurt nodded.

Puck pulled the door shut on his way out.  Kurt got up and locked the door.  He sat back down with Dave, who turned the lamp back off and pressed the remote for the episode to play.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“When are we going to tell people?” Kurt asked.  “I’m starting to feel like I’m lying by omission again.”  Kurt reached down and turned the lantern lights off, and then scooted back against Dave’s chest.

“I don’t know.” Dave wrapped his arm around Kurt. “I think probably whenever Dad decides that things are solid enough that he puts the house on the market. I’m not sure how much longer they have to respond to the job offers.  Maybe the one Dad was offered doesn’t start until the fall? I know Judy’s won’t.  We can ask.”

“I need to try harder with my dad.  I know I had said that I was giving up on Carole, but if we’re leaving Lima in less than three months I feel like I should try to spend time with him before we go.”

“Whatever you feel you need to do.  I’ll support you by going or not going.  Whatever you think is best.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. How about we meet at Lowe’s when you get off tomorrow?  We’ll grab paint cards for ourselves and look at doorknobs and stuff together.”

“Sure,” Kurt yawned. “I love you.”

Dave kissed him on the shoulder.  I love you too.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Hey, Dad,” Kurt said as he stepped into Burt’s office Monday morning.

“Hey, yourself. What’s up?”

“Well, I thought maybe you’d give the idea of us having dinner together one night a week more consideration.  How about Fridays?”

“Carole and I usually stay in on Fridays.”

“I see.  How about Mondays then?  We could see a movie and have pizza or something.”

“That might work. I’ll let you know.”

“Sure.  I’ll go get started on my list.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Ooh.  I like that one,” Kurt pointed up at one of the light fixtures.  “That would be nice at the top of the stairs.  Maybe I could paint some geometric mid-century design on the wall of the landing.  We could put that light fixture up and it would look like a museum mural.”

Dave chuckled. “You’re right it would.  But I like your mural idea.  It sounds like something you would have fun doing.”

“Maybe I can use the extra paint from painting the rooms to paint one.  I like the silver colored doorknobs you showed me. And I liked the white electrical boxes and switchplate covers since I figured that we’ll be painting the trim white.  Even if we go with stained trim, I still like the white.”

“I liked that multi-colored laminate.  It would go with the dark stain, the gray stain, and Quinn’s white furniture too.”

“Me too.”  Kurt looked at his phone to check the time. “Ready to go?  We’re supposed to meet Azimio, Sam, and Artie at the theater in 20 minutes.”

“I’m texting Z to grab us to two tickets.  _X-Men: First Class_ , here we come.”


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for not updating this when I had planned to. The holidays brought sickness. I’ve read everyone’s comments so far, and since there is interest in the story continuing, I will write more.

The next Saturday morning, Kurt and Quinn met with their ballet instructor for a private lesson like Kurt had done the previous year when he and Quinn started in the pairs class.  They spent the hour working on the moves they needed to learn. 

After they got out of class, the two of them went back to Lima.  They hurried up to their rooms, showered, redressed, and went down to the dining room to eat lunch with Paul, Judy, and Dave.

“So, how did the ballet class go?” Judy asked.

“Good,” Quinn answered.  “Our teacher spoke with Miss Wilson and got a detailed list of what we need to be able to do to start in the advanced class this fall.  I think we’ll be fine.”

“Well, that’s good,” Judy said.

Paul said, “I spent a lot of time on the phone this week.  We can build the garage on the property we’ve been looking at.  Most of the houses in that neighborhood are actually two-story houses.  I also talked to an architect.  We can get what we want, which is something fairly similar to what you showed me last weekend.  I sent him the copy of your changes and a link to the original plans. After we eat, I’ll show you what he sent back.”

“We’ve gone ahead and put in an offer on the house.  We also both accepted the positions we were offered.  Judy has not sent in her resignation here yet, nor have I offered to sell my part of the firm yet.  Once our offer is accepted, we’ll do those things.  You all know that Puck is moving out August 13th, which is the Saturday after the Y camp ends.  Kurt will be staying until the 24thbecause of the requirements for his mechanics certification tests.  I will have to stay in Lima until the 24thas well since Judy is not listed at Kurt’s guardian.  Judy, Quinn, and Dave will be going and spending time at the house in New York working on the existing house, and once the new part is ready, they’ll work on it as well.  I have some videos for Dave and Quinn to watch on how to install laminate flooring.”

They both nodded.

“Dave already knows how to put the trim on and you both already know how to paint stuff. We’ll get two sets of sawhorses so you two can work on everything more easily.  We’ll get a couple of twin air mattresses too.  You two can take our sleeping bags and make the best of it.  At least you’ll be sleeping inside in the air conditioning with hot running water.”

Quinn teased, “I’m a big fan of indoor camping.”

“When are you listing this house?” Kurt asked.  “As much as I am dreading talking to my dad about this, I want to tell him myself before you put a For Sale sign in the front yard and he either sees it or hears about it.”

“It needs to be Monday.  I know that it’s going to make everything hard on you, but sometimes it takes a while for a house to sell.”

Kurt nodded.  “Alright.  I’ll text him and see if he can come over tomorrow.” 

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt didn’t sleep well, and woke up tired Sunday morning.  Dave was still asleep, so Kurt lay still trying to keep from waking him up.   When Dave stirred, he realized he had sighed too heavily.  He kissed Kurt’s shoulder and pulled Kurt a little closer to him.

“Trouble sleeping?”

“I’m sorry I woke you up.”

“I’m not.  I love you and I know today is going to be hard.  Do you want me and Dad to be there with you or are you going to talk to him alone?”

“Alone.”

Dave squeezed him a little, hugging him.  “Alright. We’ll be home in case you change your mind.  How about a massage?”

“Really?”

“Sure.  I’ll go get your lotion.” 

When he came back, Kurt and moved to the middle of the bed, but was lying on his back with the sheet covering him.  Dave could see the boxer briefs Kurt had been wearing lying on the floor next to the bed.

“I thought you wanted a massage.”

“I do.  Come closer.  You’re overdressed.”

Dave laughed. He undressed, moved the sheet, and crawled over him.  He leaned down and kissed Kurt, who wrapped his arms around him and pulled him down on top of him and kissed him. 

“I’m pretty sure this isn’t a massage.”

“Semantics. Part of me will end up rubbed and I will relax.”

Dave kissed down his neck.  “Umm hmm.”

“If you’re not interested, I can turn over and you can go ahead with the regular massage.”

“We’ll do that second.”

“Good plan.”  He ran his hands along Dave’s arms. “God, you’re so hot.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

An hour later, Kurt was lying sprawled out on Dave in their bed.

“Comfy and relaxed now?”

“Mmm hmm.”  Kurt ran his fingers through Dave’s chest hair.  “Although a shower is next on my list.  I’m going to wash your hair and”

Dave interrupted, “Get me all worked up again.”

“That’s the idea. Unless, you’d rather shower on your own and wash it yourself.”  Kurt kissed Dave’s neck and moved enough that he could kiss him. Kurt deepened the kiss and ended up moving so that he had Dave pinned to the bed.

“No, no.  No interest in doing it myself.”

Kurt kissed down his neck.  “Just making sure.”

“What’s gotten into you this morning?”

“A very hot naked man that I love is in my bed.”

“I see.”  Dave laughed.  “I love you too.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt answered the front door when Burt rang the doorbell at 11:00. 

“Hey, Dad.  Come on in.”  Kurt shut the door behind Burt, and then led him into the den.

“Why did you want me to come over here when you could have come to the house?”

“I didn’t want anyone else around.  Go ahead and sit down.”  Kurt plopped onto the sofa and sat criss-cross facing the recliner.  “So, I have something to tell you.”

“Alright.  From how wound up you are, I’d guess it’s something you don’t think I’m going to like to hear.”

Kurt did his best to focus on staying calm.  “We’re moving to New York, to a suburb of New York City at the end of the summer.”

“We?  Who’s we?”

“All five of us. Paul, Judy, Quinn, Dave, and me.”

Burt didn’t say anything.

“We’re going to go to this really cool high school that has an amazing performing arts department. I can take Advanced Ballet as an actual course.  And acting and vocal performance.”

“I see.”

“I’ll take regular classes the other half of the day, like English, Government, and math or science. Instead of performing arts classes, Dave’s going to take college courses through a program the college he wants to go to offers.”

Burt just sat there for a few minutes.  “Why are you moving now instead of when you start college?”

“I can’t take those performing arts classes here.  You know that McKinley isn’t a good place for me.  If we had the money, I might have asked to go to Dalton where they have a No Bullying policy that’s actually enforced.  This town isn’t a good place for me.  You’ve known for years that I was planning my escape to New York.”

“Okay, I get that McKinley’s not great, but you have friends here now.  Why decide to leave a year early?”

“Besides getting to go to a better school,  graduating from high school there will allow me to pay in-state tuition for college at all of the public colleges and universities in the state of New York. The school I want to go to will cost me $60,000 less by paying in-state tuition.”

“I see.”

“The place we’re moving is between the two schools Dave and I have chosen and has a train into Manhattan if I change my mind about the school and want to go to one the Manhattan area.”  Kurt reached for the drawing he had done of the apartments.  “We’re building a 3-car garage that will attach to the existing house. Above the garage, we’ll have these two apartments.”  He handed the drawing to Burt.

He took it and looked it over.  “So, you’re not even going to be living with Paul and Judy?”

“Well, technically yes because the apartments and the house are in the same building, but not living with them the way we are here in this house.  The idea is to allow us to go to college without having to work full-time, but still have our own space to have people over and not interfere with whatever Paul and Judy or Quinn might be doing.”

“So, you’re going to live on your own in high school.”

“You can see that it’s not exactly ‘on our own’.  It’s not like it’s across town or every down the street.  They can walk through the house and come up to our apartment or go around the outside and come in that way.”

“So you’re not going to work?”

“I am going to – just part-time instead of full-time.”

“How long have you known about this?”

“Three weeks.”

“And you’re just now telling me?”

“I didn’t know for sure until yesterday and I texted you asking you to come over so I could tell you. Before that it was just an idea. As for when it all got started, that was a few months ago, but Dave, Quinn, and I didn’t find out until we were in New York for Nationals.  Paul and Judy had to find jobs and interview for them.  And once they had been offered positions, they told the three of us.  We went to look at a few houses before we came back from New York.”

“I see.”

“Paul’s putting the house on the market and making an offer on one of the houses we went to look at.” Kurt stood up and reached for the floor plan drawing.

Burt gave it back to him.  “So you and Dave are going to have a 2-bedroom apartment above the garage.  And Quinn too?”

“Yes.”

“You’d really save $60,000 in tuition?”

“Yes.  Going some place like OSU would be around $25,000 a year for the first two years.  I could get it down a little from that for the next two by living off campus, but not dramatically less.  So, approximately $100,000 for four years.  The SUNY tuition is $10,000 a year and I’d live in the apartment, so maybe $40,000 total.  If I wait and move to New York for college, the SUNY schools will be about $25,000 a year, so $100,000 for four years.  And if Paul and Judy aren’t living there, I’d have an at least an additional $12,000 a year for living expenses, so like $150,000 for four years.”

“College is ridiculously expensive.”

“I agree, but I don’t get to decide the prices.  I already figured out that if I work full-time each summer, I can come close to paying my way through school if I get the in-state tuition in New York. Paul is going to pay Dave’s tuition and Judy is going to pay Quinn’s.”

“I told you I’d help.”

“But you also told me that you couldn’t afford to help me go to college if you bought a bigger house, so I’m not expecting you to give me any money anymore.”

“Is Paul around?”

“He’s upstairs. Do you want me to get him to come down?”

“Yeah.”

Kurt texted Paul. He picked up the drawing and walked towards the door to the room.  “Are we still on for a movie and dinner tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

Kurt nodded and stepped out as Paul approached the doorway.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Instead of going upstairs, Kurt went into the garage and texted Dave to come down wearing shoes. Once he got to the garage, Kurt practically fell into him.

“Take me somewhere, please.”

“Okay.” 

Dave opened the garage door and they walked through.  He unlocked his truck and pressed the remote to shut the garage door. Kurt got in and slid to the center.  Once they had their seatbelts on, Dave backed out of the driveway and headed down the street. He drove around for a little bit, and finally headed to the ice cream place they had gone after the recital. He parked and Kurt followed him out the driver’s side.  They got in line.  Dave stood behind Kurt and put his hand on Kurt’s waist.  Once they got to the front of the line, Dave ordered milkshakes for both of them and paid.  He ushered Kurt back to his truck once they had their milkshakes. 

He pulled out of the parking space as soon as he heard the click of Kurt’s seatbelt.  He drove them out to a park that had trails through a wooded area at the back.  He parked near the trails and got out.  Kurt followed him.  They tossed their empty cups in the trashcan in the parking lot on their way to the woods.  Once they were in the wooded area, Dave took Kurt’s hand.  Kurt intertwined their fingers and they walked halfway around the trail in silence.

Kurt finally spoke. “He didn’t get upset or anything. I can’t tell whether he doesn’t care or he was resigned to the fact that he can’t do anything to stop it so why put up a fuss.”

“What did you want him to do?”

“Act like he cared? Say he’d miss me?  Ask more questions about the school we’ll be going to?  Ask about what I liked about the college I’ve chosen?  Any of those?  All of those?”

“If I had to make a bet, I would bet on the second reason you gave – that he’s resigned to the fact that there’s nothing he can do to change it so getting upset is pointless.”

“Even so…”

“Even so, it feels miserable that he didn’t seem like he was interested in why you wanted to do it.”

“Yes.”

They walked along in silence for a while again and came out at the point they had gone in. There was an old playground nearby that was empty.

“Will you push me on the swings?”

“Sure.”

Kurt took off running and Dave ran after him.  He caught up pretty quickly and scooped Kurt up bridal style and spun him around before putting him down.

Kurt was laughing, but took off running again anyway.  He made it to the swing set and sat down.  Dave pulled the swing back and let go.  He pushed Kurt for a while.

Kurt called out, “Swing with me.”

Dave sat in the swing next to him and started to pump his feet and got himself going.  After a few minutes, they quit working at it and their swings slowed down.  Kurt dragged his feet here and there to get their swings to align.  He reached out and Dave took his hand. Eventually, they were just sitting in place holding hands. 

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next afternoon a little before 3:00, slightly more than an hour before Kurt was due to get off, Burt popped over to where Kurt was working.  He took a look at what Kurt was doing for a few minutes before he said anything.

“Hey, bud. Something’s come up and I’m not going to be able to go this afternoon.”

“Oh.  Okay.”

“You’re doing a good job on that.”

“Thanks.”

Burt went to his office for a few minutes, and then Kurt saw him pull out of the lot a few minutes later.  He finished up the car he had been working on, moved it out to the lot, and called the owner. When he went back into the work bay area, he found Cassius.

“Do you need me to stay later since Dad had to leave?”

“Oh, actually that’d be great, but don’t you usually have plans on Monday afternoons?”

“Usually I do, but I cancelled them to go out with Dad, but he bailed on me to go run and do whatever he just left to do.  So, no plans.  Dave isn’t expecting me until about 7:00-8:00.”

“Sure, then. Just grab that next ticket, pull the car in, and get busy on it.”

“Got it.”

Puck came in at 4:00 and was surprised when Kurt didn’t get ready to leave.

“Why are you still here?”

“I’m covering for Dad. He had to leave for some reason.”

Puck shrugged and started on a truck that needed new tires.

Kurt ended up leaving around 7:00 and went home.  When he got there, he went upstairs.  He was tired and sweaty, so he took a quick shower and redressed. When Dave hadn’t come upstairs by the time he was dressed, Kurt picked up his phone and texted him to see where he was.

\--Where are you?

\--Out back in the hammock, waiting for you.  I have your book.

\--Be right there.

Kurt went down the stairs and out into the backyard.  He carefully climbed into the hammock with Dave and curled into his side.

“How was the movie?”

“Dad bailed.”

“Why are you so late then?”

“I stayed at the shop and worked to cover for him leaving at 3:00.”

“Oh.  So you didn’t eat?”

“No.”

“I’ll make you something.”  He started to get up.

“Just lie with me for now, okay?  I’ll eat something in a little while.”

“Sure.”  Dave went back to reading.

Kurt closed his eyes and relaxed next to him.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Thursday evening, Quinn and Dave made a cake to celebrate the sale of Judy’s house and the acceptance of their offer on the house in New York.

“So, what happens now?” Kurt asked.

“We’re going to New York soon to sign the paperwork and get the keys.  I have to talk to the realtor to get the official closing date. It will be a 1-day trip for me. Judy may stay.  We haven’t talked about the details yet.  We just found out this afternoon and we haven’t been home long enough to work it all out.  We’ll let everyone know once we do.  We’re having an open house this weekend from 1-5, so we need to not be home during that time both days.”  He continued to talk about details of their move.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Saturday, they invited all of the New Directions who were in town out to the lake for a cookout, even Finn and Rachel, who brought Jesse with her.   After they finished eating, they packed everything up and went out on the lake.  Once they were back, Paul and Judy took the boat and left.  Kurt, Dave, and Quinn got out the desserts that they had made.  After everyone had pretty much eaten their fill, the three of them looked at each other. 

When the other two said nothing, Kurt finally spoke up.  “For anyone who doesn’t already know, Paul and Judy got married about two and a half weeks ago.”

Several people were surprised.

“Judy and Quinn’s house already sold and they’ve been living with us since Paul and Judy got married. What will be news to everyone is that both of them have taken positions in New York and we’re moving there at the end of the summer.”

“What?” Azimio said. “You’re leaving, D?”

“Yeah.  I’ll be here some of the time over the summer, but I’ll be in New York part of the time too, working on our new place. Kurt has to stay here and work.”

Quinn added, “I may go earlier than August and stay.  I’m not sure yet.  We’re adding on to the house our parents bought.  Dave and I will be doing whatever work we can on it ourselves – painting and the flooring mostly, I think.”

Kurt said, “We haven’t told Mercedes or Tina yet, so we’d appreciate it if you’d let us tell them ourselves, which I will do on the drive back home.”

“So, this is real?” Azimio asked.  “You’re not just punking us for fun?”

“Nope, Z.  It’s real.”

“Man, this sucks. We were supposed to have another year together before you ran off to New York with Kurt.”

The mood turned pretty somber as the conversation turned to how there probably wouldn’t be a Glee Club and how everyone would be scattering the following summer.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

By the time they got home, the Open House was over and only the realtor was left. 

“We had a couple of really serious inquiries today.  I think they’ll be back tomorrow for another look around.  I think it would help if you could get those boxes in the living room put somewhere where they can’t be seen and go ahead and reposition the living room furniture like it’s a room, rather than a storage space. I hate to ask you to move stuff around.”

“We’ll get that done this evening,” Paul said.

“The mini-muffins were a big hit.  I heard a lot of compliments.”

“I’ll tell the kids,” Judy said.  “They made them.”

“I’ll grab my stuff and get out of here.  I’ll be back at 12:30 tomorrow.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sunday morning Kurt and Dave made breakfast for everyone.  The three teens went to the library and bookstore during the Open House.  When they got back, they went into the dining room where Paul, Judy, and the realtor were.

“You’re back,” Judy said.  “There’s good news.”

The realtor continued. “A couple that came yesterday came back today with the wife’s mother and their own realtor and looked around again.  They put an offer in. We’ll just have to wait to see if their funding is secure.  They have two small children and the grandmother lives with them as their live-in caregiver.  They loved the large room upstairs providing basically a second master suite.”

Kurt asked, “Where will we go if someone buys the house this soon?”

“We already indicated that we can’t move out until August 3rdat the earliest.  We will do a rental agreement, I believe.  We’ll pay their mortgage payment for the first month in order to stay after the official possession date, or something like that.”

Kurt nodded.

“I’ll be in contact as soon as I hear anything.”

“Thanks for everything,” Judy said.

“You’re welcome. Both of the houses I’ve listed for you have been easy to sell.”

After the realtor was gone, Paul said, “Don’t worry.  We’ll make sure that we all have a place to live.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday afternoon, Kurt and Dave came out of the movie theater and walked back to their separate vehicles.

“I’ll see you at home in a little while.  We can just eat dinner at home.” Kurt said.  “I’m going to go find my dad and see why he didn’t show up.” 

He pulled out of the parking space and headed to the Hummel’s.  He pulled into the driveway and parked.  He knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer the door.  It didn’t take long for Finn to open the door.

“Hey, Kurt.”

“Is my dad home?”

“Nope.  Haven’t seen him.  Mom’s not back from the grocery either.”

“Alright.  I’ll just try texting him again.”

“Yeah, sure. See ya.”  Finn closed the door back.

Kurt got back in the Navigator and sent Burt another text.

\--Where are you? You missed the movie and dinner and you’re not at home.  Please let me know you’re okay.

He waited a couple of minutes before he gave up and pulled out of the driveway and drove back home. 

When he got there, Dave and Quinn were working on dinner.  Dave looked up at him when he came into the kitchen.  Kurt just shook his head slightly and washed his hands to get ready to help them.

Paul came home and the three of them put everything out on the table and they sat down together.

“I thought you two were eating with Burt,” Paul said.

“So did we,” Kurt responded.  “He didn’t show up to the movie.  He wasn’t at home and he’s not answering my texts.  I’m going to call Carole next.  Finn said she was out at the grocery when I went by before I came home.”

Kurt finished what little food he had put on his plate quickly and excused himself.  He went out in the back and sat at the table on the patio and called Carole.

“Hi, Kurt.”

“Hi.  Is Dad okay?”

“Yeah, he’s fine. We’re just getting ready to sit down to dinner.  I’ll have him call you after he eats.”

“Thanks.”  He put his phone back in his pocket and went back inside.  He sat back down at the table.  “He’s at home.”

Paul scrunched his eyebrows and looked perturbed, but said, “Okay.  At least he’s not hurt or sick.”

Kurt nodded.  He sat there until everyone else finished eating.  Judy shooed the teens out and said she’d clean up since they had cooked.  Dave took his hand and led him back outside.

“Wait here and I’ll get the hammock.”  He came back out and hung it up. 

They both climbed in and snuggled up.  Dave took Kurt’s hand and kissed his knuckles, and then placed Kurt’s hand over his heart and put his own hand on top.  Kurt took a deep breath and tried to relax.

“I just can’t figure him out.  I’m not even going to bother trying this time.  I’ll just wait until he calls back.  Did you like the movie?”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next morning, Kurt went to work as usual.  Burt didn’t come in until lunchtime, and then spent the whole day in his office working on orders, receipts, and payroll.  When it was time for Kurt to get off, he clocked out, scrubbed up, and changed.  He stopped and knocked on Burt’s office door once he was ready to leave.

“Hey, Dad?” 

Kurt noticed that he was holding a photo of the two of them from when he got his first pair of coveralls when he was 8.  They were technically a Halloween costume because they couldn’t find a real pair of coveralls small enough.  Kurt had carefully sewn a Hummel Tires and Lube patch over the fake one that was screen-printed on the coveralls. 

“Yeah?”  He put the photo back on his desk.

“Why didn’t you show up to the movies yesterday?  You cancelled at the last minute last week.  Yesterday, I went to your house after the movie ended and you weren’t there.  You weren’t answering my texts or calls.  Carole said that she’d have you call after dinner and you didn’t.”

“We got caught up in watching a movie.  I didn’t get your calls or texts.  My phone died.  I plugged it up when I got home, but I didn’t actually power it back up until this morning.”

“So, next week?”

“Yeah.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Friday morning, Paul went with Judy to the closing on her house.  From there, they drove to the airport and flew to New York to go to the closing on the house in New York.  They stayed through Monday so they could meet with the architect and finalize the plans and get the construction process started.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Monday, Dave worked on the yard work in the morning and spent the afternoon working on the online course that he had signed up for.  He left at 4:00 to meet Kurt at the movie theater.

“This time, we’ll wait.  If he doesn’t show up, we’ll just go home.  I liked the movie just fine, but I’m not paying to watch it twice if he doesn’t show up.”

“That’s fine. The new _Transformers_ movie starts the day after tomorrow.  I’d rather see that if it’s just the two of us going out together.”

“Me too.”

They stood around and waited until five minutes after the movie start time before they went out to sidewalk to wait.  Another five minutes passed before they gave up.

“Library?” Dave asked.

“Sure.  I don’t have the books I should return with me, but maybe we can find a fun old movie to watch at home.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Friday evening, Quinn picked Tina up from Asian Camp and they went to Indianapolis to spend the Fourth of July weekend there with Mercedes.  Puck stayed in town to go shopping with Kurt.  Saturday morning, Kurt had an individual lesson with their ballet teacher to work on some things that were specific for male dancers.  Puck met Kurt and Dave at the school when the lesson was over.  They drove to the outlet mall.  They met up outside the store that sold Wranglers and Lee jeans. 

“Alright,” Kurt said.  “Let the hunt begin.”

Puck shook his head and rolled his eyes.  “Sure.  What are we hunting for?”

“Jeans that show off your physique.”

“You mean my ass.”

“Pretty much.”

Puck laughed. “Lead the way.”

Fifteen minutes later, Puck was in the dressing room starting to try on the stack of jeans that Kurt had picked out.  Dave stood outside the dressing room with a cart holding the pairs they couldn’t take in with them.

“I don’t need 20 pairs of jeans,” Puck said.

“I know.  You need a minimum of five for the school week.  I’d suggest more, but you could get away with wearing sweats on the weekend, I suppose.”

“So, you eliminated all of my jeans?”

“Exactly.  They say ‘I don’t care about how I look.’”

“Well, okay then.” He opened the door and showed Kurt the first pair.

“Not bad.”

“Yeah.  They’re fine.  Can’t I just get more just like these?”

“Nope.  You’ll look like you’re wearing the same clothes every day.”

“Fine.  Once we get to eight pairs I like, can we stop?”

“Sure, but they’re buy two get one free.”

“Smartass.  So, I should just buy four and get two free and have six pairs.”

“You could…”

“Or?”

“There were some slacks included in the sale.  You could get seven pairs of jeans and two pairs of slacks.”

“Fine.” 

“Nine pairs of pants for less than $100 is a steal.”

“Right.”  How about these?”

“Turn.”

“You just want to see my ass.”  He turned.

“Those are good. Keep going.”

Twenty minutes later, Puck had seven pairs of jeans in the cart and he was on his way to find slacks to try on.  “Black and light brown?”

“Khaki,” Kurt supplied.

“Black and KHAKI?”

“Yes.”

Dave helped them look through the racks for Puck’s size.  “How about these?”

“Those are too casual. They have pockets on them like jeans.  They need to have this style pockets.”  Kurt held a pair up for them to see.

“Got it,” Dave said.

“Why don’t you go look through the jeans and see if you see any that you like?  Yours are 2-3 years old and you can’t beat 3 for $30 for new jeans.”

“Okay.”  He came back about 10 minutes later.  “Any luck?”

“We’re headed to the dressing room again,” Puck said.

This time Kurt waited outside the dressing room.  Puck came out far enough for Kurt to see.

“Those look good.”

“Excellent. I’ll try the khaki ones on next.”

Another fifteen minutes and they had finished trying things on.  They moved to the line for the register.

“Next up?” Puck asked.

“A coat, tennis shoes, and boots.”

“Right.  Big bucks for those things.”

“Hopefully not too much.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They hit several Goodwills and got a jacket, a couple of hoodies, some button ups, henleys, and t-shirts on the way to the Garcia’s.  They even managed to find a new black backpack.  Their last stop was at the closest Little Caesar’s to get pizzas.  They pulled up and it didn’t take long to have Carlos on Dave’s back and Sarah on Kurt’s.  Puck carried the pizzas inside while the kids chanted, “Pizza! Pizza!”

After they ate, the kids insisted on seeing all of Puck’s new clothes.  They helped carry the shopping bags up to Puck’s apartment. Sarah and Carlos sorted them and laid them out neatly.

“Ooh, I like this shirt, Noah,” Sarah said.  “And this one.  Why did you get so many pairs of jeans?”

“Kurt said my old ones didn’t fit right.”

“Oh, you got ones that aren’t saggy?”

“Exactly.”

Sarah convinced him to play dress up for a little while.

“Kurt’s right,” Carlos said.  “The new jeans look a lot nicer.  More grown up. That’s what you were going for, right?  You got shirts with buttons and a coat that’s not sporty.”

“Right.  I’m going to a new school in the fall and I want to look nice.”

“Well, I think the new stuff all looks good on you,” Carlos said.  “You don’t look old, but you just look more serious.”

“Well, then I got the right stuff.”

The kids helped him take the tags off of everything and sort it so he could wash everything and get it put away. 

“Why don’t we let Noah put a load in the washer and the four of us will go set up a game to play?”

“Yay!” Sarah squealed and took off running.

Carlos ran after her. Kurt and Dave followed behind them.  They set up Monopoly Jr.  By the time Puck joined them, they had almost finished the game.  A few minutes later, Carlos had won.

“We can play one more time before we go to the movie.”

“Oh,” Sarah said. “Then we should stop because me and Carlos made cupcakes for everyone and we want to eat them before we go.” She got up and headed for the kitchen.

Carlos followed along behind her.  Kurt and Dave put the pieces to the game back in the box and put the lid on.  Carlos came back a couple of minutes later.

“We can’t eat in here. We can only eat in the kitchen or dining room.  Come on.”

The three teens followed him back to the kitchen.  Sarah got the milk out and poured two small glasses for Carlos and herself. Everyone helped themselves to a cupcake.  Silvia and Gabriel joined them. 

“Who’s ready to go see _Cars_?” Kurt said.

“Me! Me! Me!” Both kids jumped in place.

“We were too little to see it in a big theater when it came out.  We’re going to watch _Cars_ today and tomorrow we’re going to see _Cars 2_ ,” Carlos said.  “I’m ready.”

“Me too,” Sarah said.

When the movie ended, Kurt and Dave gave Sarah and Carlos hugs before they headed back to Lima. 

“Thanks for taking Noah shopping.  He’ll look much more like the nice brother he is when he goes back to school.  He won’t look like a mean guy anymore, which is good because he’s the super-nicest person.  And you and Dave too.”

Kurt smiled. “I’m glad you approve.”

“Are you going to take me and Carlos shopping again?”

“I don’t know. I’ll have to talk to your mom and see if we can work it out.”

“Okay.”

“We had fun,” Dave said.  “Thanks for the cupcakes.”

“You’re welcome,” they said in unison.

Kurt and Dave headed to Dave’s truck and waved as the drove off. 

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sunday a little before noon, there was a knock on the bedroom door.  Kurt stopped what he was doing and opened the door.

“Oh, hey, Dad. It’s it 12:30 already?  I must have lost track of time.”

“No.  It’s actually not quite noon.  I came a little early.  Carole and Finn will be here at 12:30.”

“Have a seat. I’m just packing up things I won’t need this summer, like my sweaters and winter stuff.”  Kurt went back into the closet to grab more clothes. He put them on the bed and started to fold items and put them in a box.

Instead of sitting down, Burt walked around the room and looked around.  He picked up a picture frame with a photo of Dave and Kurt at prom.  He put it back down and looked around a little more before he sat down.  “Why are you packing already?”

“Why have you stood me up the last three Mondays?  Be honest this time.”

“You and me, we did this dance for eight years.  You and me, like Starsky and gay Hutch.”

Kurt smiled.

“Everybody warned that when you were eight and you were bugging the crap out of me that one day I’d be begging for you to wake me up a 4:00am with a nightmare, or you know, wreck the kitchen and play restaurant.”

“I was nine. Who knew paella was going to be so complicated?”

Burt laughed.

“So you skipped out on the movies and dinner because you’re sad there’s not going to be any more movies and dinners?  I’m confused.”

“Ah, you don’t get it yet.  I know you got a taste of it when you lost your mom, but it’s just like the older you get, you just see.  It’s just that none of it lasts.  And I added to that. I know.  I’ve lost nearly a year and a half with you because of decisions I didn’t think through.  And I thought that I’d at least have the time we’re at the shop with you for the next year.  I love you and I know you love me.  And I want us to be there for each other and I just keep screwing that up. And soon as you walk out of this house and toward New York, everything’s going to change.  And it won’t change back.  Not to the way it was or the way I was hoping it could be at least for a while longer.  Look, I am really happy for you that you’re going to get to go to the school in New York that will be a good school for you.  I’m proud of how hard you work.  You’ve become a man.   But you know, sometimes I just want my sweet little boy back.”

Kurt nodded, fighting tears.

Burt stood up. He didn’t manage to keep his emotions in check.  His voice quavered, “I’m going to miss you, Kurt.  A lot.”

Kurt moved across the room and wrapped his arms around Burt.  “I’m going to miss you too, Dad.”

They stood and held each other in a bear hug for a couple of minutes.

“I know this new school is a great opportunity for you, but it’s the end of our time together and that’s hard to face, especially with how things have gone for the last year. I made such a mess of things, but I never stopped loving you.”

“I know.  I know that.  I just lost my place at the top of your priorities list.  All I want to know is that you’re happy. I want you to be happy. Your business is here.  If I could be happy here, I’d stay.  But you know in your heart that people don’t want people like me and Dave here.  I have an opportunity to go to school someplace where my contributions will be accepted, maybe even wanted.”

“I get that. And I want you to be happy too.”

“I think I will be. The school doesn’t tolerate bullying.  I can be involved in the kinds of activities I enjoy.  And I’m happy living with the Karofskys.”

“Just so you know, I am happy with Carole.  Finn’s still got a ways to go, but he’s making progress.  Why are you packing so soon?”

“Well, we need to get all of the vehicles to New York in the next two months.  Paul and Judy are going to start to drive one there and fly back.  Judy’s car is going first and she’s going to stay after that.  Quinn will be the next one to drive out with Paul in her car. Dave’s truck will be next. Paul’s truck and my Navigator will be the last to go.  We’re going to send boxes of things we don’t need each time a vehicle gets driven there.  That way by the time we actually move, we’ll have less to take all at once – just mostly the furniture at that point.”

“I see.  So, the four of them are going to spend time in New York between now and when you officially move?”

“Yeah.  I can’t leave, so the plan revolves around me. I have to stay and keep working on I won’t be able to take the certification tests on my birthday. I have to have two years experience.  I can’t quit and leave town.  I need the next 8 weeks to finish out the two-years experience requirement.”

“I get it.”

Dave came up the stairs.  “Hey, the food is ready if you two want to come down.  Carole and Finn just pulled up.”

Kurt said, “Thanks. We’ll be right down.”

Dave nodded and went back downstairs.

“So, we’re good? You’re not going to keep standing me up?  If you don’t want to go, just say so.  I cancelled my Monday movie dates with friends to go with you.  I know tomorrow is a holiday, so we won’t go then, but don’t just not show up.  You freaked me out that day.”

“I didn’t think about it like that.  I’ll show up.”

“Alright.  Let’s go eat.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Lunch went more smoothly than any of their family dinners had gone.  Dave and Kurt stayed inside and cleaned up afterwards while everyone else went outside.  Dave had set up the croquet game and the badminton net earlier while Kurt had been upstairs packing clothes.

Kurt saw that Finn was just sitting on the patio.  “Why don’t you go ahead out and play badminton with him since our parents are playing croquet?”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure that I don’t want to play badminton with him.”

“Me neither.” He wrapped his arms around Kurt from behind.  “You’re honestly better at holding your tongue than I am.  Plus, I’m not intimidated by his size.  I push people around on the football field and on the ice all the time.  I could take him down, no problem.”

“Mmm hmm.”  Kurt turned in his arms.  He put his hands on Dave’s upper arms and slipped them up under the edges of his shirtsleeves.  He kissed Dave gently.  “I know you can.  Let’s just finish this up together, and then we’ll go out and try to be civil.”

When they were done, they went out and sat down across the table from Finn.  No one said anything at first.

Finn finally broke the silence.  “I’ve been going to counseling again and I’m in a summer study skills class.  I don’t hate the new counselor.  He’s pretty cool actually.  The study skills class is okay.  I have to learn a lot of words.  The counselor is helping me learn to see situations from different points of view and that’s part of the study skills class too. Prediction.  I suck at it.  Mom went with me to a couple of the sessions this summer.  She talked to the counselor about the problems between the two of us.  I think I finally understand a little better.”

Kurt asked, “What exactly is it that you understand now that you did not understand before?”

“Well, like some people value personal possessions more than other people.  I have no… attachment, that’s the word.  I have no attachment to my stuff.  It really makes no difference to me if someone uses my stuff or moves it around.  I don’t honestly remember where I put things, so I always have to look for everything anyway.  The counselor talked about something called ‘executive dysfunction’ to Mom while we were both there.  I zoned out through a lot of it, but that’s the problem.  I really just don’t notice things.  I don’t do it on purpose.  It’s just like nothing sticks.  They talked about how Mom always taking up the slack instead of making me do it just let me off the hook from putting more effort into overcoming my issues.”

“Makes sense.”

“So, I really just don’t get being upset about someone moving something you own.  But whether I understood or not, I should have focused in on how serious you were being.  Again, I just don’t pay attention.  Mom took me to the doctor too.  I’m going to try taking some medicine for ADD and see if it helps.  I know that I have to pay attention, but it just doesn’t happen.  I start thinking about playing the drums or I start thinking about a movie or video game.  And it just takes a single word and I start to think about something about that word, and then I’m not listening anymore.  It’s hard to explain.”

“I’m still not sure what this has to do with me personally.”

“Right.  Um, oh yeah.  So, I refused to do things that I knew I couldn’t do right and Mom did them.  But you can do everything she can do.  I told her I didn’t want to be like you because you’re not cool and no one likes you.”

“That’s not true, Finn.  And you know it,” Dave said, getting aggravated.

“Fine.  No one cool likes you.  The counselor talked to me a lot about how being able to do those things is going to be a really big deal when I move out. He talked about a lot of stuff. But anyway, I’ve learned that ignoring your requests to leave your stuff alone was a really bad thing to do. I still honestly can’t see why moving things is such a big deal, but the counselor said I need to just accept that it was important to you and the why part didn’t matter.  So, I’m sorry I didn’t listen.  I’m trying.  That’s all I can say.  I’m trying to learn how to see things from other people’s point of view and I’m trying to learn to predict outcomes better and I’m trying to learn how to learn better.”

Kurt said, “All of those are good things.  I hope you succeed.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“I’m going to go inside to get the desserts ready,” Kurt said.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

A few hours later, Dave and Kurt were the only two still at the house.  The two of them were snuggled up in the hammock in the backyard.

“Today was an improvement,” Dave said.

“It was.  A little late, but I guess better late than never.  I don’t really foresee a time when we’ll come back here and spend long periods of time any time soon anyway.”

“Probably not. If we come here, we’ll either have to stay with them or have the money to stay in a motel.”

“Yeah,” Kurt said. “New topic.  Dramione or Drarry?””

“We’ve had this discussion before.”

“I’m giving you another chance to persuade me.”

Dave laughed.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave and Judy set off for New York after breakfast Monday morning, which left Kurt and Dave alone for the day. 

“So?” Dave asked after he closed and locked the front door.

“So?”

“So, what do you want to do?”

Kurt stepped closer and wrapped his arms around Dave’s neck.  “Be with you.”

“You want to hang on me like a monkey?” Dave teased.

“That could make doing anything else incredibly difficult.  I just want to be near you.  I know it’s inevitable that we’re going to be separated at some point in the next few weeks and I just want to enjoy the time we do have together. A day of absolutely ridiculous togetherness.”

“Sounds fun.” Dave leaned in a bit and kissed Kurt.  “How about Uno? You’ve been ahead far too long. It’s time for my big comeback.”

“We’ll see about that.”  Kurt kissed him and then took off running up the stairs to their room.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Once it got nearly dark out, they watered down the center of the yard and put a couple of concrete blocks out in the yard like they had done the year before.  Once it was fully dark, they started lighting the fountains they had bought. 

Dave stood behind Kurt as he sat on the retaining wall and leaned back into him. He wrapped his arms around Kurt’s chest and leaned down a bit and kissed him on the side of the neck.

“Mmm.”  Kurt took a deep breath and sighed. “These are fun to watch.”

“Mmm hmm.” Dave hummed as he continued to kiss Kurt’s neck while he watched the fireworks.

They took turns lighting them off.  When they ran out, they cleaned up the trash and put the blocks back in the garage.

“Ready to shower?”

“Let’s check all the doors again first.”

After they were certain all the doors were locked, they headed upstairs for the night. They showered and got their reading pillows for the bed out.  After they had read for about an hour, Kurt put his book on his side table. He scooted closer to Dave and lifted his arm up and slid closer.  He slipped his right arm behind Dave and wrapped his left arm around Dave’s chest.  He put his head on Dave’s chest and his left leg over the top of Dave’s.

“Comfy yet?”

“Nearly.  Am I being too clingy?  I can move back over to my side of the bed.”

“You’re good where you are.  Actually, I can read tomorrow while you’re at work, if I want to.”  He put his book on his side table, got up and traded the pillows out, and turned his light off.

Kurt sat up and turned his light off as well.  He waited for Dave to lie down before he scooted closer again.  “Will you be the big spoon and snuggle me?”

Before he answered, he took the opportunity to kiss Kurt.  “Sure.”

Kurt flopped over and scooted back. 

“Something’s bothering you.”

“Yeah.  I know you need to go help work on the house, but I’m going to miss you.  I’ve gotten so used to sleeping in the same bed with you that I’m spoiled.”

“I know, Fancy.  I spoil you and you spoil me.  And I’m going to miss you too.  You make my life more interesting and fun.  But we’ll have our own place once it’s done.”

“I know.  I just wish I didn’t have to stay when you go. I want to work on our place too, but I know you’ll do a good job.  Maybe tomorrow evening, we can go back to Lowe’s and get paint cards and pick out colors.  We can buy one of those laminate samples and bring everything out of the fluorescent lighting and see what we actually like.”

“We can get a new comforter, if you don’t like this one.”

“I’ve actually grown to really like this one because when I see it, it makes me think of you.”

“You’re sappy tonight.”

“I know, but that doesn’t make it any less true.  We can look at tile tomorrow too.  We’ll need it for the bathroom.  I’d like to put those cool glass tiles up along our kitchen area.”

“Sure.”

“Are you just going to agree with me on everything.”

“Unless I hate the idea, then yeah.  It’s not that I don’t care.  It’s just that you have so much fun doing it that I’d rather have you do it because I get to watch you have so much fun with it.”

“You’re a softie.”

“For you, always.” Dave kissed his shoulder.  “But like I said, if I really don’t like something, I’ll say so.”

“That feels good.” Kurt turned over.  “Maybe I’m not ready to sleep.  Any objections to putting those kisses on my lips instead?”

“None whatsoever.” He wrapped his arm around Kurt’s back and kissed him.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Burt kept his word and met up with Kurt on Mondays to see a movie and go out to dinner.

Two weekends later, Quinn left with Paul.  They took more boxes with them.  They disassembled Kurt and Dave’s table and took it with the two chairs, so that Quinn and Judy would have some place to sit and eat.

After Quinn and Judy were gone, Burt came over the next two Monday nights and to watch a movie and have dinner with the three of them like they did before he started dating Carole. 

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The four weeks after the talk with Burt went quickly and it was already August. The middle of the first week was Puck’s much-anticipated 18thbirthday.  Kurt knew that Puck was having a celebration in Columbus a few days later with his nana and the Garcias, so he went home from work and just made Puck a cake.  Dave was more of a nuisance than a help, but they had fun horsing around.

“What’s with you and all the silliness?  We need to get this in the oven,” Kurt said.

“You’re right. I’ll straighten up.”  He focused for a few minutes and let Kurt get the cake pan into the oven. As soon as he turned around he pulled Kurt closed and wrapped his arms around him, holding him close.

Kurt pulled back just a bit, so he could look Dave in the eyes.  “What’s going on?”

“Dad got a call today that the construction has gone really quickly and I’m going to New York this weekend.”

“Oh.  Well, that’s good news on the construction. We had wondered whether it could get done by the time we start school.  That’s in four weeks, so I’m guessing the answer is yes.”

“I’m going to stay for two weeks and fly back before your birthday.”

“We knew this was coming.”

“We did.  I just want to hold you.”

Kurt turned his head and relaxed into Dave’s embrace.  After a few minutes, he stepped back again.  “Let’s go in the den and snuggle until it’s time to take the cake out.  Kurt led Dave to the sofa and let him sit down first.  He positioned Dave so that he could mostly lie on his chest, and then he lay down.  “Better?”

“Much.”

“We’ll need to get your stuff all packed by this weekend so you can take it with you.”

“Yeah.  I’ll do that while you’re at work.  I want to spend the evenings with you.”

“And you say that I’m sappy.”  Kurt pushed himself up enough to kiss Dave.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt, Dave, and Paul were waiting in the kitchen when Puck came home.  He came in the front door and headed straight for the kitchen to get his dinner out of the fridge and warm it up as usual.  When he turned the light on to step in the room the other three greeted him with “Surprise!” and he jumped.

He laughed.  “Thanks.” He saw the cake on the island.

The three of them broke out in song.  When they finished, Puck just shook his head.  “You three are nuts, but the best kind of nuts.”

“You’re free now,” Kurt said.  “I’m next – three more weeks.”  Kurt took Puck’s plate out of the fridge and put it in the microwave.

“It’s weird. I’ve been thinking about it all day.  I looked forward to this day for so long, but now that it’s here, it just feels like any other day. I do want to say how much I appreciate you letting me stay here.  This has been the best few months I can remember.  And in a week, I’m moving on to my new life.  And you three will be doing the same thing soon. It’s going to be really weird not seeing you guys anymore.  I know I’m hardly ever here, but still.”

“Is your studio ready now?”

“It is. Everything’s done and I’m actually supposed to be begging you to come to Columbus and take Sarah and Carlos shopping this weekend.”

“Sure.”

“Well, that was easy.” He opened the microwave and took his plate out.  He went out to the dining room to sit down to eat.

Kurt grabbed the cake and a long knife and took them to the table.  “Paul and Dave are going to New York Saturday morning.  I’ll go with you Saturday morning.  I can just sleep on your couch.  I can just bring my sleeping bag and a pillow. I’ll just come back with you Sunday night, if that’s okay.”

“Yeah, sure. So, will we be here alone next week?”

Paul said, “Not the whole week.  I’ll be back Tuesday night.  I’ll need Kurt to come get me from the airport.  I’m going to fly back into Dayton since it’s the closest.”

Kurt nodded. “Is it okay for me to slice up the cake or do you want to do it?”

“Go for it. Thanks for making it for me. It looks great.”

“It’s new. Lemon blueberry with a light confectioner’s glaze instead of frosting.”

“Fancy,” Puck teased.

Kurt rolled his eyes and put a slice on a plate and slid it over to Puck, and then cut three more slices.

Puck took a bite. “Ooh, that’s good.”

Kurt smiled. “I’m glad you like it.”

Once they had all finished, Kurt put the cake in the cake carrier to keep it fresh.  “We rented _Limitless_.”

“Awesome.  I wanted to see that, but never ended up going.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Three days later, Dave kissed Kurt again in their room before they went downstairs.  “I love you.”

“I love you too. We better get down there before Puck comes up looking for me.”  He held onto Dave.  “I’ll see you two weeks.”

Dave nodded and hugged him closer.  “Let’s go down.”

Once they were downstairs, Kurt loaded his overnight bag in the backseat of the Navigator.  He had put the other things he was taking in the night before.  Puck got in the passenger seat and waited.  He had finished loading the boxes he was taking while Kurt and Dave were still upstairs.  Kurt hugged Dave one last time and got in the driver’s seat.  Dave got in the passenger side of his truck, and he waved as he and Paul drove off.

“One day I hope to find a girl that looks at me like he looks at you.”

“I hope you do too. He’s a sweetie.”

They rode in silence for a while, both caught up in their own thoughts.  Kurt eventually broke the silence.  “I brought my sewing machine.  All you need to do for your housewarming-slash-birthday present is to go shopping with me and choose the fabric you’d like for curtains.”

“You’re going to make me curtains?”

“Unless you don’t want me to.  I thought it might let you personalize your place a little.  Plus, you could pick out a couple of paintings or something from Goodwill and we can get you some stuff for your kitchen.”  Kurt flashed his ‘you know you want to let me do this’ smile at Puck quickly, and then looked back at the road.

Puck rolled his eyes. “Sure.  Let’s stop on the way there.  I didn’t know how much stuff you guys might have left to do this morning, so I didn’t give them a specific time when I was get there – just that we’d try to get there by lunchtime.”

“That works.”

They stopped several places along the way.  Once they got to the house, Kurt pulled into driveway and parked.

“Oh, wow. There’s outdoor stairs now.”

“Yeah.  Those went up two weeks ago.  It’s nice.  Now I can come and go without having to knock on the front door and go in through the upstairs.  We changed the lock on the door from the house into the studio.  Now you need a key to open it from either side. That way the kids can’t go in the studio and out the exterior door without anyone knowing and it prevents anyone visiting me from being able to just wander into the house.  All the kids have to do is knock on the door and I’ll open it and let them in.”

“That was a good idea.”

They started carrying everything upstairs.  Puck unlocked the door and Kurt stepped inside.

“It looks so different now.”

“The upper kitchen cabinets and the countertops and appliances made a big difference. Plus, I got the furniture arranged better.”

Kurt looked around. The exterior door was in the center of the long wall.  To the right were the bedside table, the bed, and the other bedside table. To the left was empty. The left wall had the TV stand, a single window in the middle, and a small section of the U-shaped kitchen area, which continued along the other long wall.  The sofa faced the TV. The door into the Garcia’s house was in the center opposite the door to the exterior.  To the right was a closet that ran along the bathroom wall.  The door into the bathroom was near the foot of the bed.  The narrow dresser stood to the right of the bathroom door.

“Now, I see what you meant about the kitchen having a bar area to put those barstools up to. When I was here a month ago, there were no countertops, so I didn’t realize that there would be a section that extended there near the door to make a place to sit and eat.”

“Right.  I’ll go grab those and bring them up.  That way you have some where to sit and sew.”

Kurt followed him down and brought up his sewing machine and tools.  He put them up on the counter and went to look for the king size sheet they had found.  He pulled it out of the bag and went to stand near the window, waiting for Puck to come back upstairs.

“So, floor length or just the length of the window?”

“Um.”

Kurt held the sheet up against the window, doing his best to demonstrate both options.  “If you go with the shorter length, I could turn the leftover fabric into pillowcases for throw pillows like I made for Sarah and Carlos.”

“Sure.  I can pick up a couple of those small pillows if you tell me where to get them.  They’d probably be good for reading in bed or watching TV on the sofa.”

“We can get a couple when we’re out shopping with the kids.  Come help me with that desk.”

“Sure.”

They carried it up and put it on the wall to the left that had been empty before.

“Looks good,” Kurt said. 

“I have everything now.  I’m ready for a new me in a new school.” 

Kurt grabbed his tape measure and measured the window length and cut the sheet into the right size. He hemmed the top edge and one side of the length to finish off each curtain.  He quickly sewed two 16-inch square pillowcases.

While he sewed, Puck washed all of the things he picked up for his kitchen.  When he finished, he dried them all, and decided where to store everything and put it all away.  Kurt finished about the same time he did.

“I’ll put the buttonholes at the top when we come back.  Could we go ahead and wash them while we’re gone?”

“Yeah.  No problem.  Just let me grab those towels I got and I’ll go down and put all of it in the washer.  It’s kind of a pain to go outside and then back in through the door on the side of the house into the garage, but I think I’ll do it most of the time just to not have to go through the house.”  He grabbed the towels, but before he got everything gathered up, the kids started knocking on the door.  He went over and unlocked it with his key and let them in.

“You snuck in,” Sarah said, said as she threw her arms around Puck.  “You came up here through the other door.  We just now saw that you’re here when we looked out the front window.” 

“We needed to get the dishes I bought clean and Kurt made me some curtains and pillowcases.”

“Like he did for us?” Carlos asked.

“See for yourself.”

Kurt held up the curtains.

“He made you big curtains, not a valance like he did us,” Sarah said.

“Puck doesn’t already have blinds on his windows like you two did.”

“That makes sense,” Carlos said.  “I like these. Very retro – kind of like my stuff, but different colors.”

Puck smiled at him. “You’ve been reading design magazines again.”

“The library had a big stack of them for 25 cents each and Mom let me get $3.00 worth of them.”

“Cool,” Kurt said. “I love those magazines.”

“Come on.  I’ll show them to you.”

Puck said, “Go ahead. I’ll get this stuff in the washer.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Two hours later, they were seriously scouring The Children’s Place for the t-shirt that Carlos had seen online that he really wanted.

“Here it is!” he exclaimed, excitedly.  “They have it!”

“Excellent,” Kurt said.  “Let’s get your size.” 

Carlos handed him a t-shirt.  “Let’s keep looking.”

A half-hour later, they were all four in line with their choices.  Neither of them had really outgrown any of their clothes from the previous year, but some of those items had met their fate throughout the year.  So, replacements were bought for those items.

Once they were through the line, Sarah said, “Shoes next?”

“Sounds good to me,” Puck answered.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After they finished shopping, the four of them went to the $1 theater to watch _Spy Kids 2._  
  


“I’m excited,” Carlos said, as the four of them walked across the parking lot.  “I loved the first one last week.  And then there’s the third one next week and the next weekend, we’re going to a different theater to see the fourth one because it’s new.”

They got in line to get their tickets.

“I love my new clothes and shoes.” Sarah said.  “That place is the most fun place to shop because they have so many stores in the same place.”

“I’m glad you had fun,” Kurt said.

Carlos said, “I miss Dave though.  He’s fun.”

“He is,” Kurt agreed. “I miss him too.”

They found seats the kids liked and they sat mesmerized through the whole movie.  When it finished, they headed home.  Silvia had dinner ready for everyone and they sat down to eat. 

Once they finished, Puck stayed to help clean up and sent Kurt off to get working on the curtains again.  After Kurt had gotten the buttonholes in the top, he came back down and went back into the laundry area to look for an iron and ironing board.  When he finished, he took everything back upstairs to be met with two kids waiting for him on the sofa.

“Can we help?” Carlos asked.

“Sure.  Where’s Noah?”

Sarah answered, “He went to get tools to put the curtain rods up.”

“Okay.  Well each of you can put a pillowcase on one of the new pillows.  They’re in that bag over there on the bed.”  He handed each of them a pillowcase.

Puck came back in with the tools.  While he put the curtain rods up, Kurt let Sarah and Carlos fasten the rolling curtain hooks on the top of the curtains.  They each did one, and then slipped it over a wooden rod when Puck held it out for them. Once the curtain was on the rod, Puck put it up and fastened it in place and repeated the process for the second window.

Sarah grabbed the bag off the bed and put the two throw pillows in the middle of the bed. “It would look better if your bed had sheets and stuff,” Sarah said.

“They’re in that trash bag next to the bed.  I just didn’t get a chance to put them on yet.”

She opened the bag, and pulled everything out.  She and Carlos put everything on the bed and made it neatly, putting the throw pillows in the middle again once they finished.  Puck rolled the sleeping bag up and put it in the trash bag.

“It looks good,” she said.

Everyone looked around the room.

“It does,” Puck said. “I like it.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They spent the a lot of their time playing games with the kids and the time passed more quickly than Kurt had anticipated.  Sunday night was more difficult because Dave’s lack of presence was so much more noticeable when Kurt was in bed alone in the quiet.  The kids had been a good distraction.  Kurt picked up his phone and texted Dave.

\--I love you.

A few seconds later, he got a response.

\--I love you too. We’ve gotten a lot done in two days.  I think we might be able to move in to our apartment by your birthday.

\--Really?  That would be amazing.  I miss you already.

\--I miss you too.

Kurt’s phone rang about a minute later.

“I’m outside now. I wanted to be able to talk to you.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The following Saturday, Kurt and Puck said their goodbyes.  They had already carried down what little of Puck’s stuff was still at the Karofsky’s and put it in Puck’s truck.

Puck hugged Kurt and said, “Who’d’ve thunk, huh?  Two years ago, I was a badass jackass extraordinaire – one of the idiots who harassed you.  And now look.”

“Yeah, you’ve let the real you be seen.  Not that you’re not tough – because you are.  Just in a different way than you had thought.  You’ve been through so much and you’ve come out the other side.  Now, you get to live life on your terms and make good choices.”

“Yes, Dad.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “I’m glad for you.  I really do hope you make some friends and have fun too.”

“I hope you enjoy where you’re going to be in New York.  Don’t forget us little people when you get big and famous.”

“I’ll remember.”

Puck got in his truck and waved as he drove off.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt spent the two weeks without Dave working on sewing projects for their apartment.  He made his first ever Roman shades for all of their windows.  He made throw pillows for their bed and the futon that coordinated with the paint colors and the window coverings.  He spent time going through his Ikea catalog and picked out desks.  He drew the furniture on graph paper and cut it out and made mock ups of the rooms, rearranging everything until he decided on the final layout.

 [][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The Monday evening before his birthday, Kurt went to the movies and out to dinner with Burt. 

“Am I going to get to see you on your birthday?” Burt asked as they were waiting for their food.

“Of course.  I’m going to come by the shop before I leave town Wednesday morning to go to Columbus to take the ASE Certification tests.”

“Which ones are you taking?”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

 

Tuesday afternoon Kurt drove to Dayton to go get Dave from the airport.  He was leaning against the Navigator when he came out of the building.  He practically tackled Dave on the sidewalk and hugged him, causing Dave to laugh.

He spoke directly into Kurt’s ear.  “I’m glad to see you too, Fancy.”  He wrapped his arms around Kurt and spun him in a circle.  “Get back in and let’s get going.”

Once they were both inside, Kurt leaned towards Dave, who smiled and met him halfway and kissed him.  They talked all the way back to the house.  When they got there, they were surprised to find all of the New Directions were there to throw them a goodbye party.  Even Tina and Mercedes had somehow managed to get there. 

Once everyone had eaten, they helped bring all of the furniture and boxes downstairs to make the job for the movers go more quickly the next morning.  After they had moved everything, a lot of hugging took place. Azimio hung around after everyone else left.

“D, I’m gonna miss you, dude.  We’ll still play _Halo_ and _COD_.”  He hugged Dave. “You take care of him, you hear?” Azimio pulled Kurt into a bear hug too.

“I will.  You can come see us some time.  We have a second bedroom, with an amazing air mattress,” Kurt teased.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll see what I can do.”  He walked down the sidewalk and waved as he got in his truck and pulled off.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next morning, Kurt left early for the shop.  He stopped and picked up three coffees and muffins at the Lima Bean.  He took his phone out and took a few shots of the shop before he reached back in and grabbed the bag and drink carrier.

Kurt stopped briefly to talk to Cassius.  He had him sign the form he needed to turn in at testing center.  Once Cassius had finished filling it out, Kurt put it in his satchel and he gave Cassius one of the cups of coffee and a cinnamon muffin.

“Thanks for everything, Cassius,” Kurt said.

“You’re welcome. It’s gonna to be weird around here without you.  I’m gonna miss you.”  He put his hand on Kurt’s shoulder.

“Me too.” Kurt picked the goodies up and moved on to Burt’s office.  “Hey, Dad.  I brought treats.”

“I see that.” Burt opened the bag and pulled out a chocolate chocolate chip muffin.  He slid the bag back over to Kurt.

Kurt pulled both cups of coffee out of the carrier and put them on Burt’s desk.  He left his own cherry cheesecake muffin in the sack to eat on the way to Columbus.

“Happy 18thbirthday, bud.  You did it.  Now, you’re leaving to go out on your own – before I’m ready.  But you’re ready.  I know you are.  You’re a hard worker and you’ve got a good head on your shoulders.  I’m always going to be here for you.” He looked Kurt in the eyes. “You scared?”

“Terrified in some ways.  New school, new everything.”

“New York is going to be a breeze compared to Lima.  Think about all of the crap you’ve put up with in high school here.  You know the difference between this place and New York?”

Kurt teased, “Decent bagels?”

“New York is filled with people like you – people who aren’t afraid to be different.  You’re going to feel at home there.”

Kurt nodded.

“And if you aren’t scared, it just means you aren’t sticking your neck out far enough.”

“You really are a great dad.”

“I know.  It’s written on the coffee mug you gave me for Father’s Day a few years ago.”

Kurt wiped the tears managing to escape. 

“Get outta here. You’re gonna be late for your tests.”

Kurt nodded and stood up.  Burt stood as well. He pulled Kurt into a bear hug.

“I’m going to miss you, Dad.”

Burt let him go and looked him in the eyes.  “Me too.  You can always come back.”

Kurt smiled sadly, opened the door, and stepped out.

As the door shut, Burt said, “But you won’t.”  He sighed and finished his muffin.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave was waiting for Kurt when he came out from his last exam.  Kurt sat next to him.

“We just have to wait for my scores so I can get the printout.”

Dave nodded.  He put his arm around the back of Kurt’s chair and they both tipped their heads back and closed their eyes to rest. When Kurt’s name was called, he got up and went to the counter.

“Here’s your scores. You passed all of the tests. You just need to use this code on our website to order patches and copies of your actual certificates. Don’t lose the printout because you can use it to apply for jobs until you get your certificates in the mail.”

“Thank you.” Kurt took a photo of the printout and cropped the top part so just the scores showed and texted it to Burt. He put it in the folder he had with him and went back to Dave.  “That’s it.  We can go.  I passed them all.” 

Dave hugged him, and then took his hand as they left the building to start their journey to New York.  The plan was to drive five hours, spend the night in a motel, and make the last three and half hours of the trip the next morning.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt and Dave arrived about an hour before the moving truck.  Dave took him upstairs as soon as they got there.  They walked into the hallway that led to the studio.  The stairs up to the apartments were on the left.  At the top of the stairs, Quinn’s door was to the left and Kurt and Dave’s was straight ahead.  There were no doors hung yet, but when Kurt stepped into their space, he wrapped his arms around Dave and kissed him.

“It’s perfect.”

“We still need to put the flooring down in the bedrooms and paint them.”

“We can start on that later today.  They can just put all of the furniture in here.  At least we won’t have to carry it all up the stairs ourselves that way.”

“The appliances are being delivered tomorrow.  We can go grocery shopping and go to Ikea on Friday, if we get the floor and walls done today and tomorrow.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

It was Sunday afternoon when they finally had everything in both apartments finished and they decided to give official tours to the rest of their family.  They started in Quinn’s place.  Her apartment was over the single car section of the garage and over the former attached garage, so it was slightly unusual in its layout because the stairs were near the center of the apartment.

The main room was a combined kitchen, dining room, and living area.  The front wall held her TV.  Not quite in the center of the room, facing the TV,  was the sofa and two end tables.  On the left wall, there were two single windows. The one closest to the laundry closet had the dining table underneath it.  In the back left side of the room was her washer/dryer closet with the rest of the wall filled with upper and lower dark wood cabinets, except over the sink where there was a single window.  The cabinets continued around the corner to the right wall.   

Following the wall that the TV was on, there was an opening into the hallway that ran behind the stairwell that led down to an alcove.  There was a small coat closet in along the left side of the opening.  The hallway and open living area were painted a warm very pale apricot to go with the print on the sofa and the dark wood furniture and cabinets.  The bathroom and two bedrooms were at the end of the almost Z-shaped hallway. 

Her bedroom was to the left in the alcove.  She had painted it the same colors and decorated it the same as before. The only addition was Kurt’s vanity.  Her spare bedroom had the bed, side tables, and dresser that had originally been in Paul’s bedroom. She hadn’t yet chosen any bed linens for it yet, but she had painted the walls a lovely pale warm green.  They left Quinn’s and move to the guys’ apartment.

Kurt opened the door and they stepped inside.  The door opened back to the right.  Once the door was closed an alcove the width of a hallway could be seen to the right.  Their laundry closet opened into the alcove and at the left end of the laundry closet, facing the living area, there was a small guest coat closet. 

Along the same short wall, was a door into the bathroom.  They had painted the bathroom a warm deep turquoise color and the garden tub area had been tiled with a white tile with turquoise and brown marbling in it.

Perpendicular to the bathroom door, was the door to their bedroom.  The bedroom also had a door that led into the bathroom along the front wall. They had painted their bedroom a paler version of the same turquoise that they had used in the bathroom.  They placed the bed and the bedside tables along the right wall, the dresser on the back wall under the double window, and the trunk at the end of the bed.  The closet took up the left wall.

Next to the bedroom door, was another closet that had their coats in it.  Next to the closet door was the door into their study, which they had painted white to prevent the paint from distorting the colors of fabrics and drawings.  They had bought two white desks from Ikea put them under the double window on the back wall.  The closet ran along the right side.  Kurt put his sewing table and spotlight along the front wall.

The remaining space along the back wall of the main room had their drop-leaf table in it’s folded down position.  They had painted the main room an even lighter version of the same turquoise from their bedroom and bathroom.  The whole left wall was their kitchen area, which had stainless appliances, gray stained lower and upper cabinets that extended to the ceiling, and a double window above the sink.  They had not yet installed the gray, turquoise and white glass tiles between the countertops and the bottom of the cabinets.  The front wall had the small dresser with their TV on it. The futon sat in the center of the room facing the TV. 

Kurt pointed to the wall with the TV on it.  “We’re going to build shelves similar to the ones we built for Quinn and put them on this wall with the dresser in the center.  The center area will have shelves that only go not quite halfway down, leaving room for the TV.”

Judy said, “Both places look great.  They look completely different, but I really like both of them.  I like this unusual floor you two picked.  I had never seen it before.  It’s white, gray, medium, and dark brown all mixed together.  It’s definitely interesting.”

“Thanks,” Kurt said.

“We’re going to get to work on the closets next, so we’re going to head out to Lowe’s,” Dave said.

Quinn said, “I’ll get my drawings, and then I’m ready to go.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sunday evening, Kurt sat down on the built-in vanity in his towel.  Dave stood in front of him and applied his moisturizer.

“I love our new place.”

“Me too.”  He leaned forward and kissed Kurt. “Shall I continue?”

“Definitely.”

Fifteen minutes later, they were in bed, snuggled up together.

“It’s a lot smaller in here than in our old room,” Kurt said.  “That will take some time to get used to, but I like having the separate living area and a separate room to do our schoolwork and projects. This room is just for us.  I know we showed everyone today, but when we start to have people over, I don’t want them to come in here.”

“A private place, just for us.”

“Mmm hmm.”  Kurt scooted even closer and began kissing Dave.  “I love you.”

“I love you too.” He wrapped his arm around Kurt’s back to keep him close.  “It’s hard to believe that school starts in a week.”

“We have English and choir together at least.”

“Yeah.”

Kurt squirmed until he got in the right position and nuzzled his nose into Dave’s neck and relaxed. “Everything’s completely different, but we still have each other.” 

“Always.”


	34. Chapter 34

Monday morning, Kurt woke up first.  He could see that it was 7:47, so he relaxed and attempted to lie still enough to let Dave sleep.  Dave ran his hand along Kurt’s arm.

“Morning, Fancy.” He kissed him on top of the head.  “We’re getting closer to getting everything done.  What do you want to work on first?”

“I’m excited to put up those kitchen tiles.  I think they’re going to look really good.”  Kurt ran his hands along Dave’s chest.  “Let’s start with that.  We’ll move on to the closets while the grout dries.”

“I really like the window coverings and the throw pillows.  You were busy while I was here.”

“I needed to do something to keep busy.  I missed you a lot.  Plus, I knew we still had work left to do here and I’m hoping that we get it all done and feel settled by the end of the week.  It’s been a crazy summer and school starts a week from tomorrow.”

“Closets or shelves?”

“Oh, yeah, the shelves.  I guess the tiles first, and then we draw up the plans for the shelves and go to Lowe’s again. It takes time for the stain to dry before we can put the shelving together.  We can work on the closets tomorrow and put the shelving together on Wednesday.  Nope, that’s your birthday.  Thursday I guess.”

“We could still do it Wednesday in the morning.  We’re not having the party until dinnertime.”

“Too much planning and not enough kissing.”  Kurt moved and straddled Dave and started to kiss him.  “I lost out on two weeks worth of kisses.  I need kisses.”

Dave laughed.  “I’m pretty sure that I have been giving you extra kisses for the last six days to make up for the missed kisses.”

“Nope.  I get extra kisses for two weeks to make up for the lost kisses.” 

“I can see the logic in that,” he teased, as he gave in to Kurt’s silliness and kissed him as requested.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

That evening, they sat down to dinner as a family.  Since they were all still busy working on a variety of house-related projects, they ate sandwiches with a store-bought vegetable tray and dip.

“The studio is starting to shape up,” Quinn said. 

“I love, I mean love, the super-long aubergine armless couches.” Kurt said.

“We wanted you all to have enough room to have people from your classes over without always having to drag in more seating somehow,” Paul said.  “A single sofa only seats three people comfortably.  I’m pretty sure these two together will seat seven or eight.”

Judy said, “We still need to work on the closets under the stairs.  No one remembered to measure them for shelving when you all went yesterday.”

“You’re right,” Dave said.  “We’ll do that.”

Judy said, “Quinn, if you could help me iron and hang the curtains for the studio tonight. Paul got the curtain rod up this afternoon.”

“Sure,” Quinn said. 

“Kurt and I still have the shelving to work on.  We’re going to go back to staining the boards after we eat.”

“It’s fine.  We knew about the shelving,” Paul said. “So, on to things that don’t involve the house.  Expectations.  We’re allowing the three of you an enormous amount of freedom by letting you live in the apartments while still in high school.”

The three teens nodded.

“We’ll still eat dinner as a family Monday through Thursdays,” Paul sad.  “Friday, Saturday, and Sundays, you’ll be free to either eat with us or on your own in your own places.  If you’re planning to eat with us, we’ll just need to know so we have enough food for everyone.”

Judy said, “We’ve spent a lot of time talking since we’ve been back living together for the last week.  We don’t want Kurt working after school.”

Kurt was shocked. “How will I be able to pay for anything?”

Paul answered. “While we were in Lima, Burt required you to pay for your own stuff.  What I didn’t find out for quite a while was that you were contributing to the cost of the groceries.  I didn’t want you to pay for the things you paid for, and he and I butted heads over the fact that he made you pay for things I thought were his responsibility, but I didn’t want to meddle too much and aggravate Burt to the point of him making you move back to his house when you didn’t want to go.  But Burt isn’t part of the picture anymore and you’re as much a member of this family as the rest of us.  We don’t expect Dave or Quinn to pay for their food, clothing, phones, or car insurance.”

“But they’re your kids.  I’m not.”

“Kurt, we love you,” Judy said, as she reached out and put her hand over his.  “We see you as one of ours.  You’ve lived with Paul and Dave for nearly a year and a half.  And I know they both loved you even before that. ”

Paul said, “She’s right.  You’ve worked for a long time.  I know that you didn’t feel welcome in the clubs at McKinley, but for this school year, we want you to be able to join clubs, explore things you’re interested in, and join the local theater group or be in a play at school.  We came here to improve your educational opportunities.  I’m going to ask that if you insist on working that you only work one day after school and maybe early Saturday mornings. We want this to be an amazing school year for all of you.  And if you’re working 20+ hours a week, you’re going to miss out on those opportunities.  You have your mind set on being a stage performer, but you’ve never really had the opportunity to perform.  This is your year to find out if that’s what you really want to do.”

“I’ll think about it,” Kurt said.  “I worked really hard on my certifications to just let it all fall to the wayside and not get used.”

“I understand,” Paul said.  “I really want you to go to school next week with a completely open mind about the options available to you for clubs and activities.  I know you said you don’t want to play football anymore, which is fine, but we want all of you to join a few clubs.  Once you’ve been to all of the club meetings that seem interesting, you can choose which ones to join, and then you can look around and see if there’s a repair shop that has any openings that fit your school schedule.”

“We all do need some more things on our CVs for college applications,” Kurt said.  “I’ll do as you’ve asked.  Next week, I’ll get a list of all of the clubs, go to several, and really consider joining some of them.”

Judy said, “Tuesday, you can all buy lunch.  If you find the choices unacceptable, we’ll go out Tuesday evening and buy things for you to pack your lunches.  Back to expectations.  You’ll take care of your own places.  You can rotate who cleans the half-bath off the studio and the studio itself.  Whoever cooks dinner during the week does not have to clean up afterwards.  For the first week, I’m going to just make crockpot dinners until we all get accustomed to everything.”

“You can have people over until 10:00 on school nights and no limit on Fridays and Saturdays. Overnight guests are fine. We know that none of you are big partiers, but if you do want to have a group over, just let us know ahead of time.  We’re not going to say ‘no’.  We just want to know. And whoever stays should help cover the cost of food if you have stuff delivered.”

Judy added, “And 10:00 is not set in stone.  Just try to get your friends to leave so you get enough sleep.  We’re not going to ground you or anything. Let’s see.  Dave and Kurt’s birthday dinner will be Wednesday. We’re going to go out someplace. We haven’t decided where.  Thursday we have a few tasks that have to be done. We will go to change our cell phone numbers and go to the license branch to get New York licenses for Dave and Kurt and get new plates for their vehicles.  I was hoping we could go when they open at 10:00 so we can get it done quickly.  Afterwards, we’re going go to Costco.  I want to see if we like what’s there better than Sam’s Club. We didn’t have a Costco before, so I want us to all go look.  And after lunch is the meeting with Miss Wilson and then the three of you will register for classes.”

Quinn said, “Busy day.”

“Yes, we’re trying to get it all done in the same day so we don’t interrupt your projects every day this week,” Judy said.

“Makes sense,” Dave agreed.

They finished eating and went back to their previous tasks.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Tuesday evening, they collected up the tools they had used to install the shelving in their living room.

Kurt said, “Thanks for helping us get them up.”

“You’re welcome,” Quinn said.  “It’s a lot easier with three people than two.  I like the way they turned out.  I’m going to go to bed.  I’m still getting used to living in a place that’s nearly the same size as our house all by myself.  I like it, but it’s strange.  It’s quieter than I expected it to be.”

“It is,” Kurt said. “The soundproofing Paul had put in really does work.  We don’t hear you walking around or opening your fridge or playing music or anything.  I think installing the insulated exterior doors as entry doors makes a difference too.”

Quinn opened the door to let herself out.  She stepped out onto the landing and went back into her own apartment. Kurt and Dave carried the tools down and put them away.  Once his hands were empty, Kurt took Dave’s hand and they went back upstairs into their living room.  He stopped long enough to close and lock the door, and then stood behind the futon and looked around.

“We did it,” Kurt said.

“We did and it looks great.”

“I agree.  The mini glass tiles really tie all of the colors together and make the kitchen area look really cool.  The shelving looks great.  All we have left to do is to put our books and photos out Thursday.  I think if we get a couple of those space bags, we can put the bedding for the futon in them and suck the air out and get them to fit in the lower drawers of the TV… what are we going to call it.  It was a dresser, but it’s not now.”

“TV stand?”

“Sure.  I did decide that I do want that mirror from Ikea.  I think we need it to brighten the room up.  It will reflect the light from the kitchen window if we put it horizontally between the linen closet and the bathroom door.”

“Alright.  We can get that.”

“Maybe we can look at some posters or art prints or something.  The walls feel empty.  Some black and white photos or prints would look good in here.”

Dave wrapped his arms around Kurt.  “You’re the designer. You find what you like and I’ll veto it if I hate it.  And don’t forget the lampshades that I already agreed to.”

Kurt turned in his arms and kissed him.  “You spoil me.”

“Mmm hmm.”  Dave kissed along Kurt’s jaw line towards his ear.  “I like spoiling you. Let’s go add the mirror and pictures to our list and go take a shower. I’m ready to snuggle.”

“Me too.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next morning, Kurt sat down gently next to Dave on the bed and began to sing.

_Happy birthday to you._

_Happy birthday to you._

_Happy birthday dear, David._

_Happy birthday to you._

Dave opened his eyes and smiled at Kurt.

“I love you, sweetie.” Kurt kissed him chastely.  “You’ll have to come out to the table to eat. Paper plates and no breakfast tray aren’t a good mix for eating in bed.”

“Okay.  It smells good.”  He stretched and got out of bed.  He followed Kurt to the table and sat down.  “It looks good too.  Thank you.”  Dave began to eat the pancakes, eggs, and turkey sausages that were on his plate.

“You’re welcome.” Kurt sat down across from him. “So you didn’t want me to plan anything for today.  What did you plan?”

“Well, you’ll just have to see won’t you?”

“A surprise. Sounds fun.  How should I dress?”

“Will you let me pick out your clothes?”

“Sure.”  Kurt popped a bite of pancake into his mouth.

“Really?”

“Of course. You know what we’re doing and you know me.”  Kurt reached across the table and reached for Dave’s hand and intertwined their fingers.  “Sweetie, we’ve been together for almost two years.  I totally trust you.”

They finished eating. Kurt grabbed the paper plates and tossed them into the trashcan under the sink.  He washed their cups and utensils and left them to dry on a towel. He followed Dave into the bedroom and made the bed while Dave looked through Kurt’s clothes.  He pulled out the pair of jeans that Kurt liked to wear hiking.  He also pulled out his hiking boots and one of his more casual short-sleeved button-up shirts.

Kurt hopped up and grabbed them.  “Thank you.”  He didn’t dawdle in getting dressed. He went in the bathroom and fixed his hair and brushed his teeth and was ready to go quickly.  He grabbed a belt, put it on, and sat down on the bed to wait for Dave with a smile on his face.

It didn’t take Dave long to get read in a similar outfit with the exception of the shirt. He put on a t-shirt instead. “Ready?”  Dave pulled Kurt to standing.

“Yep.”  Kurt wrapped his arms around Dave and kissed him. 

“Is it okay if we take the Navigator?”

“Sure.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

About 20 minutes later, they pulled into the wildlife sanctuary that Dave had found when he researched interesting places within driving distance.

“This looks cool,” Kurt said.  He hopped out when they parked and walked around to the other side of the Navigator.  When he got close enough, he reached out for Dave’s hand.

“There are a lot of interesting places around here.  I thought we start with this one.”  He kissed Kurt gently.

They took off walking towards the hiking trails.  They spent the rest of the morning hiking, talking, and clandestinely kissing when possible.

“I might use the money my dad gave me for my birthday to buy a good camera.  If I’m going to start making more costumes and things, I need to be able to take good photos of them to use in a portfolio.  And when we go to beautiful places, I can take pictures.  I’m glad you thought to ask to borrow your dad’s for today.”  Kurt stopped stood completely still and photographed a beautiful bird on the edge of the water.

“We could print a couple of the ones from today and hang them in the living room.  The colors in the water and the sky would look good, or we could see how they would look black and white like we talked about.”

“Good idea.”

They went back to the Navigator after they had explored the shore area for a while.

“I found a place to try for lunch.  How about you drive and I’ll navigate?”

“Works for me.” Kurt got in the driver’s seat.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Lunch was fabulous. Are we headed back home?”

“Nope.  You drive.  I’ll direct.”

“Okay.”  Kurt followed his directions.  “We’re going shopping? It’s your birthday. Shopping isn’t one of your favorite things to do.”

“Ah, but eating on plates and out of bowls is.”

Kurt laughed.

They got out and went inside and looked around. 

“How about this breakfast tray?  I know it needs refinished, but it’s $2.99.”

“We’ll think about it. We don’t want many more projects. That’s why I was thinking maybe we should just go to WalMart or Ikea and just buy dishes that we can add to over time.  We have just a couple of days and as much of a bargain shopper as I am, I’d like to just be able to eat.  We can look for more things to equip our kitchen with over time.”

Dave said, “Let’s see if we can find any good pots and pans.  Those will be more expensive than plates anyway.”

Once they finished looking through the kitchen stuff, they moved over to the home décor area.

Kurt was looking through the larger pieces that were in a cart.  “Hey, look.  There’s a big mirror. Help me get it out.”

They pulled it out and the frame had been painted black and had some flaking paint, but the mirror itself wasn’t damaged.

“Alright.  Two projects, but that’s it,” Kurt teased. “This is $30 less than the one I saw in the Ikea catalog.  We’ll put that towards buying new dishes.”

“So, you don’t want these amazing frames I found?” Dave play pouted.

Kurt smiled at him sweetly.  “The frames are fine. Those won’t take that long.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They got back home about 4:00. Kurt loaded the dishwasher and washed the pots they found while Dave took the glass and mirror out of the frames and took them, along with the breakfast tray downstairs to sand them down.  When Kurt finished with the dishes, he went ahead and started on their laundry.  Kurt was folding clothes and putting them away when Dave came back up.

“I got all of the stuff sanded and stained.  I’m going to jump in the shower.  I’m assuming we need to dress up for dinner.  Why don’t you pick something out for me?”  He leaned in and kissed Kurt without touching him anywhere.

Kurt picked out two outfits in a flash and followed Dave to the bathroom. “Can I join you?”

“Most certainly.”

Kurt got in the shower with him and took over washing his hair.  Once they got out, they moved quickly so they’d be ready to go on time.  Kurt blew his hair dry and fixed it while Dave shaved.  Kurt tossed their hiking clothes into the washer on their way out.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They enjoyed a delicious seafood dinner and went back to the house for dessert.  Quinn had made a chocolate cheesecake with white chocolate chips and raspberry swirls for dessert.

She put it out on the table and they all started to sing to Dave.  When they finished Dave joined the other three in singing again to Kurt.  Kurt looked surprised.

“It’s for both of you,” Quinn said.  “The three of us didn’t get to celebrate with you last week because you weren’t here.”

“Thanks.  It looks delicious.”

Judy picked up a knife and sliced it into 8 slices.  Quinn passed the plates out.  Once they finished eating, Judy collected up their place settings. Paul left and came back.  He handed an envelope to each of them. They both opened them and read the cards.  Inside the envelopes were two smaller envelopes.  Kurt opened his first.

“No way! Two tickets to _The Book of Mormon_?” Kurt said. “This is amazing.”  He showed them to Dave.

Dave looked more closely.  “They’re for Saturday afternoon.”

“We figured you could take the train in and come back after you have dinner somewhere.”

“Thank you.” He could barely keep still he was so excited.  “What did you get?”

Dave pulled out the contents of his envelope. “I got two tickets to the first home game for the New York Rangers in October.  This will be so much fun!”

“That will be cool. It’s been a long time since we went to that Blue Jackets game.  A year and a half.” 

“Thanks!” Dave said, with a smile that lit up his eyes.  “And thanks for the cheesecake, Quinn.  It was really good.”

“Well, what I’ve found out is that I am excellent at following directions.  So, everyone will think I’m a fantastic cook so long as I start with a good recipe.  I don’t think winging it will be in my future, but I’ll be able to feed myself and other people thanks to Kurt’s excellent cooking lessons.”  She kissed him on the cheek.

“What about my cooking lessons?” Dave pouted.

She rolled her eyes. “Of course, Davey dear, your lessons were invaluable as well.  I’m quite skilled at making cheesecake thanks to you.”  She turned and kissed him on the cheek as well.

Paul said, “The piano tuner is coming tomorrow.  If we can get the mirrors and the barre up tonight, the room will be usable tomorrow evening when you all get back.”

“Sure.  We can do that,” Dave said.

The five of them moved to the studio. 

“I know I said it before, but I love the aubergine armless couches,” Kurt said. 

Within an hour, they had gotten the mirrors installed along the wall the studio shared with the living room and the barre installed on the opposite wall.  They all sat down on the sofa after the tools had been put away.

“The couches can be turned to face each other, if you’re wanting to be able to talk to each other easily, like a group project for school or reading lines for a play or something,” Judy said.  “We put some pads on the bottoms of the feet to keep them from scratching the floor, but to be safe, just pick them up and move them, rather than sliding them.”

“We’ll do that,” Kurt said.  “Thank you for making us a room like this.  It’s perfect.”

“You’re welcome,” Paul said.  “All of you can head upstairs.  I’m sure you’ve got more things to work on still.”

“There’s not much left,” Kurt said.  “We’re almost done.”

“I’m finished,” Quinn said.  “Except that I need to get a quilt and curtains for my guest room still.  I’m going to look when we go to Costco and if they don’t have anything, maybe we can stop at Target or a TJ Maxx, if they have them here. Actually, that’s what I can go do. I’ll go browse online and see where I can find what I’m looking for.”

“That sounds like a good plan,” Judy said.

“Thanks for the tickets,” Kurt said.  “I wasn’t expecting anything, but they’re perfect.”

Judy smiled and said, “You’re welcome, honey.  I hope you have a great time.  You’ll have to tell me what you thought afterwards.  Oh, one last thing.  I’ve added a trip to the bank tomorrow to open accounts here locally.  Otherwise, you’ll end up getting a lot of fees to use ATMs.  So, be sure to bring your current bank information with you in the morning.  We’ll meet you in the driveway at 8:30.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Can you come in my place for a minute, Kurt?”

“Sure.”  He turned to Dave.  “Can you throw those jeans I washed on the way out into the dryer?”

“Got it.”

Kurt followed Quinn in.

“I want to ask you something about my guest room.”  She stepped inside and he followed her to the room.  “I painted the walls pale warm green, as you can see. And I put the green tweed chair my mom and I had in our living room in here, which you probably already noticed as well.  Anyway, I was thinking that I’d like to get a multi-colored quilt.  I was thinking purple and green.  Maybe floral or geometric.  What do you think?”

“I think it sounds like it would probably look really good.  With a floral print, you could get some pictures of purple flowers and hang them above the bed similar to the way your butterfly prints are. With a geometric print, you might still be able to go with flower pictures or you might be able to find a single abstract print that’s larger to hang over the bed.  With the dark wood furniture in here and your darker floor, I’d go with something that looks light and airy for the bed.  I love the aubergine couch downstairs, but something that dark in here would weigh down the room.”

They went back into the living area.

“Got it.  I’ll show you my top five in the morning while we wait in line at the BMV.  Also, take those two boxes of kitchen things to your place.  I pulled out what I will use.  If I need something else, I can go down and raid Mom’s stuff or ask to borrow it back from you.  I’m pretty sure that most of the stuff in the boxes are things that were at the Karofsky’s already.  Mom put the stuff we brought from our place in the kitchen downstairs.”

“Excellent. Dave and I bought some plates and bowls today because we were tired of paper plates, but we’ll go through this stuff.”  Kurt picked up a box. “I’ll be back for the other one.”

“I can carry it.” She followed him out and put the box on the floor outside her door.  “See you two in the morning.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt put his box on top of the other box so he could open the door.  He pushed them in with his foot and knee and locked the door behind him.

“What’s in the boxes?”

“Kitchen stuff.”

“Nice.”  Dave picked the top one up and put it on the table and opened it up.

Kurt followed behind him with the other one.  “So, it’s your birthday still…”

“Yeah and for my birthday I want to put this stuff away and put the stuff on our shelves.  I want to wake up tomorrow to a finished place.”

“Okay, then. Emptying boxes it is.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

An hour and a half later, there were no more cardboard boxes in their place.  They opened the door up from taking them down to the garage and stepped inside.  Dave locked the door and stepped up behind Kurt who was looking around. 

He propped his chin on Kurt’s shoulder. “We have our own place and I love it.  It’s perfect.  Let’s look at the photos you took this morning, which seems like forever ago, and pick a few to print tomorrow to hang in the frames we got earlier.  We can print them somewhere tomorrow and when we come back, we can hang them and the walls in here won’t look bare.”

“I have no idea what to put in our room, but we can look at poster size prints tomorrow when we go out.  We can get one we both like and hang it over our bed and somehow we still need to put the paper lantern lights up.  We’ll leave the study plain for now.  Once we start to use it, we can decide what to do in there.”

“For the rest of our combined birthday celebration, I’d like a nice bath together and a lot of kissing.”  He kissed up Kurt’s neck and started to unbutton Kurt’s shirt.

“Mmm.  Sounds perfect.”

The dryer buzzed and made both of them jump.

Dave said, “I’ll grab those.  How about you start the bath?”

“A quick shower, then the bath?  I want to wash the hairspray out of my hair.”

“That works too. I’ll be right in.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt began to wash Dave’s hair, causing him to moan and pull Kurt closer.  Kurt rinsed his hair and then pressed his lips to Dave’s. Dave responded by holding him close and kissing back passionately. 

“Remember way back when you said that you had, um, dreams about me and us?”

“Mmm hmm.  I have a lot of those dreams.”  Dave kissed down his neck.  “A lot of them start just like this.”

“And then what happens?”

“Do you want me to tell you or show you?”

“Is it something we haven’t done before?”

“No.”

“Then show me.”

Dave unwrapped Kurt’s arms from around his neck and positioned them elsewhere on his body.

“Here?”

“Umm hmm.”

“I can do that.” He continued to kiss Dave.  “From here do we take the bath or do something else?”

“Well, we didn’t have this tub like this before, so a tub never came to mind.”

“Your choice. It’s your birthday.  We can go ahead with your dream sequence or we can still do the bath.”

“I want to do the bath.  I’ve been looking forward to it since we got here last week.”

“Bath it is.” Kurt took the sprayer, rinsed the tub, and switched to the faucet to fill the tub.  He continued to kiss Dave and switched their positions so that Dave could sit down first.  “Why don’t you go ahead and sit and I’ll get comfortable after you are.” Kurt picked up a bottle and put a few drops of a sea salt bubble bath he had gotten when they were out the day before.  He sat down in front of Dave and leaned back into his chest.  Once there was enough water, he leaned back up and turned the faucet off.  He scooted back again. “So what do you think?”

“I think that you are incredibly sexy.  And that I am one very lucky man to have such an amazing boyfriend.”

“Well, that feeling is definitely mutual.”  Kurt turned and scooted to the side a little so he could wrap his arm behind Dave’s back.  He ran his left hand along Dave’s chest up toward his neck, eventually wrapping it behind Dave’s neck and pulling him toward him to kiss him.

Dave reached out and held Kurt close.  They continued kissing and touching until the water got too cold to enjoy anymore.  Kurt flipped the drain and turned the sprayer on to rinse them quickly and they got out and dried off.

“Now, what?”

“Now, what do I want to do? Or what happens in some of my dreams?”

“Both.”

“Well, there are different versions of the dreams, but we end up in bed having sex.”

Kurt blushed. “Okay.  How about we go get in bed and talk about it?”

“Sure, but I didn’t get to do your moisturizing yet.  That’s definitely on the agenda.”

Kurt knew what that meant and his body reacted accordingly.  He put his towel on the counter of the built-in vanity section of the counter and sat down.  Dave pulled the right bottles out of the basket and deftly executed the proper technique that he had perfected over time.  As soon as he put the bottles back, he set out to do his favorite part of the activity.

Kurt ran his hands through Dave’s hair and relished every second of the attention that Dave lavished on him.

“Now, what?”

“I brush my teeth and we move to the bed and you do the same thing to me?”

Kurt smiled.  He hung his towel up and went in their bedroom and pulled the covers back.  He knelt towards the end of the bed, waiting for Dave to come in.  As soon as Dave was ready, Kurt crawled up and kissed him before he moved lower to fulfill Dave’s request.

When he finished, he said, “I’ll be right back.”  Kurt went in the bathroom and brushed his teeth and got right back in bed with Dave.

Dave had turned on his side.  Kurt lay down facing him.

“I know that I have been reluctant to even let you tell me about your dreams and fantasies, but I spent a lot of time thinking while we were apart and I talked myself through my issues and I’m ready to listen.”

“Are you going to tell me yours?”

“If you want.”

“Oh, I definitely do. But will you tell me why you’ve been so hesitant?  It wasn’t something I did was it?”

“Definitely not.” Kurt kissed him passionately. “You are the most wonderful boyfriend.  You have been very patient in not pushing me past what I’ve been comfortable with.  You’ve been kind and caring and completely respectful.”  He resumed kissing Dave.  “It was me.  I told you early on that everyone who had gone ahead and had sex young seemed to regret it.  I didn’t want that.  I know nothing is ever perfect the first time, but I wanted us to be strong enough to push through whatever it was that made other people’s relationships fall apart afterwards.  I love you so much and I didn’t want us not being good at sex to drive us apart.  I don’t think it will now.  I think we’re both mature enough now to realize that we won’t get it right the first time or maybe even the tenth time, but we love each other enough to know that it’s not because of anything except inexperience.”

“You’re right.”

“Another part of my reluctance was still feeling insecure about everything.  And I don’t mean insecure about whether you loved me. Just insecure in general. Living with you has been great, but until I actually turned 18, I felt anxious about whether my dad would force me to his place – and he did once.  And once Puck was living with us too, your dad or Judy or Puck or Quinn or anyone, like Puck’s social worker, could just walk right up to our bedroom door and hear what was going on.  Doing more than we’ve done requires prep work and clean up and it’s not the kind of thing that happens in five minutes.  I suppose we could have gone to a motel, but we were underage.  I didn’t have a problem breaking the rules and staying alone together in a motel, but if someone had complained about us being too noisy during sex, it could have been a really bad situation for us.”

“You’re right. It could have been a big issue.” Dave gently rubbed circles on Kurt’s hip with his thumb while Kurt continued to talk.

“I have a hard time relaxing and letting my guard down completely and with the added stress of not having complete privacy, that made it harder.  It surprised me when you indicated that your dad thought we were having sex.  I think my dad’s ‘when you’re 30’ speech had more of an effect than I had considered.  In my mind, I guess I had this feeling that if your dad found out that we were having sex that he might make me leave.  Maybe that seems irrational, but when my own dad seemed supportive and then did a 180, I guess I just had this lingering fear that your dad would do the same.  So, it just wasn’t worth the risk.  Sticking to what we were doing and getting to stay with you was a million times better than potentially only getting to see you at school.” 

“I agree.”  Dave kissed him.

“And when I was thinking about why I couldn’t listen to you tell me your dreams and fantasies, it’s my insecurities.  What if I couldn’t live up to those dreams you had?  What if I wasn’t good at it?  I was afraid that I couldn’t live up to what you had imagined.”

“And now you’ve realized that I’m going to love you even if it doesn’t work out right the first or tenth time and that we can keep practicing and working at it.”  He gently ran his hand up and down Kurt’s arm.  “You know that if something never works the way I had imagined, I’ll just chalk it up to the fact that since I had no experience to base my ideas on that maybe it just not something that will work, and that’s okay.  You know that, right?”

“Yes.” Kurt played with Dave’s hair.  “Being here the last week put an end to a lot of the stress.  My dad can’t make me move.  No one could end up in foster care because we get caught having sex and some social worker insists that the immorality in the home makes it unsuitable for Puck.  Now we have our own place.  And even if someone comes looking for us, they can’t get any farther than the front door.  Now we can be as loud and take as much time as we want.  We’re both 18.  And we live in a state with anti-discrimination laws and we could even get married here.”

“So does that mean that you want to?”

“Want to get married? Yes, some day.  Do you not?”

“That wasn’t what was referring to, but yes I do want to get married some day.  I was actually asking if your thoughts led you to the conclusion that you do want have sex.”

“Oh.  Yes.  I definitely do.  I think we need to do some research on the best products and ways to prep ourselves.  We’ve been together since before I really had much interest in anything and we’ve been sexually active together and I’ve never done anything else besides what we’ve done together.”

“Such as?”

“You know, the things those pamphlets showed about finding the prostrate and stuff.”

“Oh, right.  Me neither.”

“So, I was thinking that we could go on Amazon and order the things we’ll need. Or we’ll have to go buy them in person.”

“I think Amazon sounds like a good idea since we have no idea where to go around here and I don’t want to antagonize anyone by going and standing and staring at a display together somewhere trying to figure out what we need when we don’t know the area well yet.”

“That was what I was thinking, but I wanted your input.”

Dave laughed. “I definitely want your input.”

“Dave!”

“Yes, Fancy.  I love you and I already told you the tiniest bit of what I dream about.  Do you want me to tell you or do you want to kiss some more and go to sleep and talk about it again tomorrow night since we have to get up in the morning?”

“Kissing and sleeping. I don’t want to look like something the cat dragged in on my New York State driver’s license.”

Dave kissed him. “You are gorgeous and you could never look bad, but I will grant you that driver’s license pictures are the worst.  They’re like mug shots.”

“They really are.” Kurt kissed Dave.  “I’m going to turn over and be the little spoon.”

“One more kiss.”

“Of course.”

When they broke apart for air, Dave ran his hand along Kurt’s jaw.  “Even if we order everything, if you decide you still want to wait, we can.  And I know if I’m the one to change my mind, you’ll accept that.”

“I will.  I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Kurt turned over and scooted back against Dave, who wrapped his arm around Kurt and nuzzled into the back of his neck.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They made it to Costco about 11:30.  They toured the store for a half-hour and decided they liked it more than Sam’s Club.  Paul’s membership was going to expire in a month and he decided to just go ahead and join Costco. They all got their membership cards. They ate lunch in the café area rather than take the time to go eat somewhere else.  They left and went to the school to register for their classes.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They parked and went in the door closest to the main office.  The five of them went inside and sat down to wait.  They were taken back to guidance counselor’s office.

“It’s nice to meet all of you in person.  I’m Mrs. Klassen.”  She extended her hand to Paul, whom she had only spoken to on the phone.

“Paul Karofsky. It’s nice to meet you as well.”

Everyone sat down.

“I have all David’s paperwork from the college – his transcript from the class he took this summer, plus the two classes he will take this fall.  I have all three of the students’ transcripts from William McKinley High School.  I found two major issues.   All three of you need an additional year of history.  New York State requires four history courses. And the major issue is your PE credits.  You only have three each.  New York requires eight semesters, plus the semester of health.”

“Eight?” Kurt asked.

“Yes.  Our students take PE every semester. It’s a 45-minute course that they participate in at least twice a week.  Here at Roosevelt, we’ve opted to set it up so that the days the students opt to not go to PE are spent in the library.”

Kurt said, “Our PE classes were 55 minutes long, five days a week.”

“Unfortunately, it’s not a matter only of time spent.  It has to be taken each semester.  You will be exempted from the requirement prior to enrolling here since you already have sufficient credits, meaning that you won’t have to go for additional time each week.  Our credits are counted differently because the class isn’t a full time class.  Each semester only counts for ¼ credit, totaling two for all four years.  But you will all be enrolled in PE for the next two semesters.”

Kurt paled.  He tried to focus and not lose control.

“Here are the class schedules that I’ve made for you.  I’ve put all three of you in the first period gym and second period lunch, so you can eat together if you want.”

“Thank you,” Kurt said.

She nodded. “Dave will head to the college after lunch for his math and business courses.  One meets Monday/Wednesday/Friday and the other meets Tuesday/Thursday.  You should have time to return to the school before the afterschool clubs meet.”

The three teens compared their schedules.  Miss Klassen saw the look of confusion n their faces.

“Is there something wrong with them?”

Quinn answered, “We’ve never seen a schedule like this.  We had the same classes every day.”

“Oh.  I see.  We have five periods a day. Four are academic periods and the lunch hour is split with PE and library time.  Four of your classes will meet Monday, Wednesday and every other Friday.  The other four will meet Tuesday, Thursday, and every other Friday.  Dave’s college courses are the exception.  As I mentioned, one is Monday/Wednesday/Friday and the other is Tuesday/Thursday.”

“It allows for more classes, “ Kurt said.

“It does.  It allows our student athletes to have two study halls and have time to do assignments during school.  It allows our struggling students to get additional help one period a day.  And it allows our advanced students the opportunity to take more electives.”

Quinn said, “That’s really a nice set up.  A lot of the classes here that are electives were school clubs at McKinley. With only six classes a day, we didn’t have time to have choir or ballet during the school day.”

They looked at their schedules again.

“Your schedules are fairly similar due to all of you needing another year of history, plus needing to take a Government elective and Economics.  You also all requested AP English and show choir.  Kurt and Quinn have advanced ballet and drama. Quinn has fourth year French, while Kurt is in AP French and fourth year Spanish.  I did not add another math course for Kurt or Quinn since they already have three or more, unless you’d like to eliminate your study hall to add a math class, Quinn.  I also eliminated French from your schedule, David, since three years is all that is required and you want to take those college courses.  You don’t have room for it in your schedule.”

Dave said, “That’s fine.”

“I’ll need to add the math class,” Quinn said.  “I need to have another year of math to get into the universities I’m interested in.”

“Alright.  You three can look through these while I work on that.”  She handed them a printout of the PE options, a student handbook, the requirements for advance ballet and show choir, and a list of all of the school clubs with meeting times and locations.  A few minutes later, she handed Quinn a new printout.  “I’ve added Pre-calculus to your schedule.”

“Thank you.”

“Just so you’re aware, the history course you’re in is going to be almost all sophomores.  I called your previous school and determined that your World History class doesn’t really fit the scope of our Global History and Geography 4-semester sequence, but you have to take the Regents Exam for the second half of the course, so I put you in that course. Part of it will be a repeat, but your previous course did not cover geography and you need to know all of the material to be able to do well on the exam.”  She paused for a few seconds and looked at her notes.  “I know I mentioned that students have to go to the library to study on the days they don’t attend PE, but the three of you will be exempted from that and you’ll be spending the three days a week you don’t go in the resource center working to learn whatever you need to know for the Regents Exams.”

Kurt asked, “What are the Regents Exams?”

“I don’t have any handouts, but if you go on the New York Department of Education website, there is detailed information about them there.  The testing dates are in August, January, and June each year.”

Kurt said, “I bet they’re like the OGTs, which all of us have already passed.”

“I’m sure you did with your GPAs being so high.  Unfortunately, what you were taught in Ohio may not align with what’s been taught here and we want to make sure that you are prepared to take the Regents Exams in January.  If after a few weeks of going to the Resource Center it’s determined that none of you needs to spend any time there, you will be released to spend that period in the library.”

“That makes sense,” Kurt said. “It’s better to be overprepared than underprepared.”

She looked at her list again.  “Our dress code requirements are in the student handbooks.  You can stop by the athletic department on your way out to purchase the appropriate clothing for PE.  There’s a selection of options, but students must be wearing a top and bottom from the available choices.  Your books will be distributed in class on Tuesday and Wednesday.”

The teens nodded. 

“We’ll go ahead and go to the music department to give you three a chance to warm up.”

“Warm up?” Kurt asked.

“Yes.  You’ll be singing for Mr. Maxwell.  He needs to hear your voices in order to properly place you in our show choirs.”

“We didn’t prepare anything,” Quinn said.

“It’s fine. Unless anyone has any questions, we’ll go ahead to the choir room.  After that, Miss Wilson will see Kurt and Quinn to make sure they’re ready for the Advanced Ballet class.”

 [][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After spending a half hour with Mr. Maxwell, Kurt and Quinn went into the changing area in the dance studio and put on their ballet clothes and warmed up.  The room was empty and they talked quietly while they stretched.

“That was nerve-wracking,” Quinn said.

“You did well. Don’t worry.  We all did. We’ve been placed in their competitive show choir, so it should be fun.”

“I hope ‘competitive show choir’ doesn’t mean something like Vocal Adrenaline under Shelby’s reign.”

“I don’t think so. It’s a class.  Mr. Maxwell didn’t say anything about 4-hour afterschool rehearsals.”

“That’s true.”

Miss Wilson came into the room.  “Good afternoon.”

Kurt and Quinn stood up.

“We’re just going to go through the movements and I’d like to see the two of you perform the last piece you performed together, as I had mentioned in the email.”

“Yes, Miss Willson,” Quinn said.  “We’re ready.”

She took them through a brief warm up of her own and then moved on to the skills testing. Once they had finished, Kurt docked his phone and turned the music on and they performed their most recent piece.

“That was lovely. You two work well together. You’ve done a great job catching up over the summer.  I think you will do fine in the advanced class.  I will pair you two together in class.  Please be sure to get the proper attire for class before Wednesday.”  She handed them a business card.  “This is the place where the students get most of their items locally. The staff there is familiar with the school’s requirements.”

“Thank you,” Kurt said. 

“This class participates in the Winter Concert.  You will not be required to purchase costumes.  You will be provided accessories from our Costume Design Club, such as skirts or sashes to wear over your regular outfits.  I look forward to seeing the two of you in class on Wednesday.”  She left the studio.

Kurt grabbed his phone on the way to the changing area.  He and Quinn packed up their stuff and met up with Dave, Paul, and Judy.

Quinn spoke quietly, but excitedly.  “We did it.  We have to go get new clothes though at this place.”  Quinn handed Judy the card.

“That’s fine, honey. We need to go to the athletic department first, which we found out is down that way.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Once they were where they needed to be, they found a student running the athletic department store. 

An enthusiastic guy with blonde curly hair, a beanie, and black glasses said, “How can I help you?”

Kurt spoke up. “All three of us need clothes for PE.”

“Alright.”  He pulled out two laminated sheets. “Here are your choices of tops and here are the choices for bottoms.”  He handed the sheets to Kurt and Quinn.  All of the tops were maroon or gold and all of the bottoms were black.  “You’re all new?”

“Yes,” Dave answered.

“Then, I’d suggest also getting a pullover hoodie or a zip-up hoodie.  We have spirit days all year round and it gets cold if all you have to wear is a PE t-shirt.  And sometimes we still have PE activities outside when it’s a little colder than some people can tolerate in a t-shirt, even the long-sleeved ones.”

“Thanks,” Kurt said. “I’ll take two of these shirts and two of these track pants.”  He looked up at the displays and pointed.  “And that pullover hoodie and that zip-up hoodie.  Can I see them in a medium?”

“Sure.” 

Quinn and Dave gave their preferences as well.  He pulled out the sizes and styles everyone requested. 

“I’m Chandler, by the way.  Welcome to Roosevelt. I should have said that earlier.”

“I’m Kurt.”

“I’m Quinn.”

“I’m Dave.”

Kurt spoke again. “We’re all seniors.  We just moved to this area.”

“I’m a senior as well. I’m on the student council. That’s how I got the job in the student athletic store.  I hope you enjoy it here.  Maybe we’ll have some classes together.  Do any of you sing?”

“All of us.  Mr. Maxwell just assigned all of us to Singspiration.”

“Congratulations. I should have asked that before. You’ll all need one of these.” He pulled out a maroon hoodie with Singspiration written in gold over a black music staff and Roosevelt High School written in smaller black letters underneath the staff.  “We wear these when we perform at local events. These and black pants.”  He pulled out the correct sizes for the three of them and put them with the other clothes.  He started to ring everything up.  “What parts do you sing?”

“Dave’s a baritone, I’m a counter tenor, and Quinn sings alto.”

“Oh wow,” he said in his hyper-enthusiastic tone.  “A counter tenor?  Really?  We’ve never had one before.  Well, at least not in my three years here.”  He gave them the total.  He took Paul’s card, ran the purchase, and gave it back.  “I love that brooch.”

Kurt looked down at his hippo brooch.  “Thanks,” he said rather incredulously.

“I bet you get that a lot.”

“Not really.”

“Well, it’s really cool.  Could I get your number?”  Chandler offered Kurt his phone.

Kurt took it, not knowing what else to do.

“Oh, sorry.  I don’t mean to seem weird.  Singspirtation is having an unofficial back-to-school party tomorrow evening.  I thought I could text you the information and the address and the three of you can come if you want.  You can meet everyone.”  He noticed that Kurt didn’t seem convinced.  “You three won’t be the only new people.  The people who auditioned last spring and moved up from the Top Notes will be there too.”

Kurt handed him his phone back.  “Should we wear the hoodies?”

“Oh, no.  Just come dressed however you want. We’ll just be watching movies, eating, playing Wii Rock Band or karaoke or card games or whatever.  There will be no drinking, so don’t bring alcohol.  If you get caught drinking, Mr. Maxwell will kick you out of Singspiration.”

“We don’t drink, so that’s not a problem,” Kurt said.  “You can let us know where it is and we’ll come.”

Chandler handed them two bags each with their clothing and handed Paul the receipt.  “Well, it was nice meeting you three.  I’ll see you tomorrow evening then.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Paul and Judy left in Dave’s truck.  Kurt, Quinn, and Dave piled their bags in the back of the Navigator and got in.

“Well, Chandler was enthusiastic,” Quinn said.

“That’s an understatement, but at least he seemed welcoming,” Kurt said.

“Flirty, more like it,” Dave said.

“Flirty?” Kurt looked puzzled.

He imitated Chandler, “’Oh, I love your brooch. Can I have your phone number.’” Dave sighed. “He directed most of what he said to you.” 

“Hey, don’t.” He reached over the console and took Dave’s hand.  “I’m not going to be wooed away from you by enthusiastic, brooch-loving guys. We’ll go to the party and meet people.  It seems like a good way to start the school year off.  And if it will make you feel better, I will sit on your lap whenever possible, giving no one any reason to think that I am available.”

“But where will I sit if you’re sitting in Dave’s lap?  I usually sit in your lap,” Quinn teased.  “That way no one hits on me.”

“Fine.  You can sit on my lap and I’ll sit in Dave’s lap.”

Dave snorted.

“Not at the same time. People will think we’re in some kind of 3-way,” Kurt teased.

Quinn laughed. “How about we just introduce ourselves?”

“You’re no fun, Quinn.”  Kurt stuck his tongue out at her.

She just laughed harder.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They made it back from their shopping spree a few hours later. 

“Come over in a couple of hours and you can see my finished guest room.”

“Sure.  And you can come back with us and see our place.”

After they got everything upstairs, Dave went back down into the garage to retrieve the frames and to bring back up the tools.  He met Quinn coming down on the way back up.

“I was just going to get those,” she said.

He handed her the toolbox.  “Bring it over when you’re done.  We have a few things to do before we can use them anyway.” 

They both went back up and into their own places.

“I’ve got the frames,” Dave said.

Kurt called out from the study,  “In here.”  He was cleaning the glass on the frames.

They worked together to get everything put together and decided where to hang the photos. They refolded their winter clothes to fit in the storage boxes they bought and slid them under the bed.

Quinn knocked on the door. 

Dave opened it and took the toolbox from her.  “We’ll be over after we finish.”

She nodded.

They worked together to get everything up on the walls.  Dave took the toolbox back downstairs and Kurt threw all of their school clothes and tossed them into the washer and started it.  When Dave came back up, he and Kurt went to Quinn’s. 

She opened the door and they followed her to her guest room.  She had put a multi-colored striped quilt on the bed.  Each stripe was made of a different color, muted green like the chair, mauve, mulberry, teal, and gold.  She had hung a batik-inspired iris print above the bed in a frame that matched the wood furniture in the room.

“It’s not really what I wanted, but what I imagined doesn’t exist unless I want to pay $350 or more and have someone make it.  But this is colorful and it was $25.  The other option is this solid colored purple quilt.”  She showed him a photo on her phone. “But it’s a bit dark for the room according to what you said.  I could make throw pillows to spruce it up a bit.”

“I think it depends on what you want.  You could throw the multi-colored quilt and the pillow shams in the washer and wash and dry it a few times to give it a more vintage feel and just leave it. It would be simple and colorful. With the print and the quilt, you wouldn’t need to add anything else to the room, except maybe a vase on the dresser with some silk irises to tie everything together.  The purple is a bit dark and it would require you to do more to brighten the room up.”

“The stripe quilt wins I think.  It’s here and it’s not that much money.  If I ever find what I really want, I can donate this one.  I don’t dislike it.  If I had seen it before I came up with the idea of what I was looking for, it would have been fine.  I don’t know how much use this room will get, but I think I’d rather it just be simple.  I’ll do what you said and wash and dry it a few times to get it more comfortable looking.  It’s stiff and doesn’t lay quite right.  Let’s go see your place.”  She grabbed the quilt and the shams and took them with her to put in the washer on the way out.

Dave and Kurt left their door open and she went in.  “Oh, wow.  I like the mirror and the photos.  Where did you get those?”

“Kurt took them yesterday.”

“They’re really nice. And the frames look good. I saw you bring those up earlier, so you must have worked on those.”

Dave nodded.

“We were going to leave the study for later, but I found this awesome abstract poster print of New York City in the poster shop we went in.”

They had put it in a white poster frame and hung it on the empty wall to the left.

“I like it. It’s cheerful.”

“And you saw the art piece we picked up in there.  We hung it over the bed.”

She peeked in and saw the impressionist shoreline print.  It was blue, brown, turquoise, and tan.  “The colors go great.”

“It reminded us of where we went yesterday.  We’re so close to the ocean now.  It’s strange to think about.  We have water to the north and south and a lake to the east.”

Quinn said, “I’m looking forward to going to the lake on Sunday.  It’s been a long time since we’ve been out together.”

“We’ll have to go back to the nature preserve we went to yesterday.  This time we’ll take binoculars to see the birds better,” Dave said.

The washer beeped.

Kurt moved over to the laundry closet to deal with the clothes.

“I’m going to go read through all those school things before dinner,” Quinn said.

“Good idea.  See ya later,” Dave said.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“It’s done. Completely done,” Kurt said as he plopped back on the futon and leaned against Dave.  He put his feet up on the ottoman and wrapped his right leg over Dave’s left leg and started to play footsie.

Dave lifted his arm allowing Kurt to scoot closer.  He wrapped his arm around Kurt’s shoulders.  “It feels great.  No more boxes, no more mess, no more anything to do but relax for a few days.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  “Tonight after dinner, I want to come back up and listen to some music and read.  I know I sound totally lame or whatever, but I miss snuggling up and reading and talking.  Since you got here, almost all of our conversations have been about getting this place finished.  I want to hear some crazy idea of yours about how Ginny and Hermione should have ended up together and why or some new technology you read about in some article somewhere.”

“Ginny and Hermione, huh?  Maybe you’ll have to convince me of that one.”  He laughed.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Friday night they went to the Singspiration party.  They met 20 of the members of the group.  Not quite everyone made it.  On the way back home the three of them tried to name everyone they had met. Quinn kept track.

“Okay,” Kurt said. “Jeff, Ryan, Nick, Wes, David, Patrick, Chandler, Evan, Thad.”

Quinn said, “That’s nine.  My turn.  Miranda, Nina, Sugar, Chloe, Eleanor, Teagan, Morgan, Alexa, Willow, Lydia, Cora.  That’s 10.  I missed someone.”

“Jade,” Dave said.

“Jade.  Right,” Quinn agreed.

“And they said a few people weren’t there,” Dave said.  “They were all really good from what I could tell.  At least the ones that sang karaoke.”

“Sugar and Nina gave me their phone numbers, as did Nick and Jeff.”

“Ooh, potential suitors already?” Kurt teased.

“Jeff’s about as hyper as Chandler.  Nick would be more my type – calmer.”

Kurt laughed.

“Not that I’m seriously looking right now.  For all I know they’re both gay.”

“Could be I suppose. Wes invited me to join the Harmonichords.”

“What’s that?” Quinn asked.

“The all-male a cappella after school club.”

“Sounds fun,” she said.

“Maybe.  It was on my list of clubs to check out already.”

“I still didn’t look through the clubs.  I know they have our best interest at heart, but showing up as the new kid again is not sounding fun right this minute.  I’ve been struggling since yesterday.  This is my third high school.  I honestly don’t really feel like it’s about making friends this year for me.  I feel like it’s a practice run for my life where my past decisions don’t affect how people see me. I don’t want anyone to know, but not telling anyone also negates part of who I am and what I’ve been through. I’m going to call the girls center in Columbus tomorrow and talk to someone to help me get through this.”

“That’s a good idea,” Kurt said.  “I’m not facing the issue that you are, but it’s still going to be a test of my acting skills to walk into my classes on Tuesday and attempt to behave like I’m worthy of my classmate’s respect.  I’ve been socially isolated for years and I learned to keep my head down a lot of the time to avoid conflict.  I want to be bold and assume that people won’t mind being my partner or sharing a table with me in class.  I have to leave that ‘reject’ mentality behind.  And I’m obviously not the only out gay kid anymore and I really have no issues with people knowing that I’m gay, but I would like to be known for something OTHER than being gay.”

Dave said, “I’m starting with a clean slate here.  I want to be liked, but I don’t want to put myself in the position of acting like I’m better than anyone else because I’m not.  I just want to be Dave, the math geek, who reads a lot and like to play hockey, not someone people fear.”

No one said anything else on the way back.  They were all caught up in their own thoughts about starting a new school.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Saturday morning, Kurt woke up 15 minutes before the alarm they had set.  He was snuggled up in Dave’s embrace.  He started tracing hearts on Dave’s chest, which woke him up. 

“Mmm.  That feels good, Fancy.  Come closer.”

“The only way to get closer is to use you for my bed.”

“Perfect.”

Kurt moved and lay on top of him.  Dave wrapped his arms around him and his hands slid progressively lower.

Kurt laughed. “You can, you know.”

Dave slid his hands down and began to massage.

“A tush massage?”

“Mmm hmm.”

“Or are you wanting me to move?”

“That too.”

“Just a second.” Kurt reached over to his side table and opened the drawer.  “That’s better.”  He lay back where he had been and started to kiss up Dave’s neck.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After they got out of the shower, Kurt sat at the counter vanity in the bathroom and did his morning moisturizing while Dave shaved.

“I’m truly terrified of having to take PE again.  Will you please come to yoga with me on Tuesdays and Thursdays?  I know you want to do weight training.  Maybe you could do that just three days a week? I’m sorry.”

Dave put his razor down and turned to look at Kurt.  “Hey, don’t cry.  You don’t have to be sorry.  I’ll go to yoga with you.  We’ve been doing it together and I’m more flexible than I used to be. It’s good for me.  I don’t mind at all.”

“Really?”

“Yes, of course.”

Kurt stood up and threw his arms around Dave.  “Thank you.”

“Something happened to you in a locker room.”

Kurt barely nodded.

Dave held him close. “You don’t have to tell me, but I won’t let anyone hurt you.  What did you do before I joined the football team?”

Kurt stepped back and sat back down and picked up his lotion bottle.  “I had only played in one game before you joined.  And I had only been to practice the day before that game.  I changed in the auditorium dressing room before I went out to the football field and took my school clothes with me.  I just left after practice in what I was wearing.  The night of the game, I went early and got dressed before anyone else showed up.  I didn’t need to know any plays, so I just went out to the field after I got dressed.  I ran off the field as quickly as I could after the game and put my pads back in my locker.  I showered as fast as I could and took my clothes into one of the toilet stalls and got dressed.  I left out the side door so I wouldn’t walk past the showers or the lockers on the way out.  The girls left their Cheerios uniforms on as usual and Brittany was coming down the hall when I came out.  She insisted that I needed to go to Strando’s party because I had kicked the field goal that won the game.”

“It’s weird how one small thing can change so much.  If she hadn’t convinced you to go, who knows how long it would have taken me to tell you how I felt.”

“Well, I’m glad you told me.  I can’t imagine not being with you the last almost two years.  I don’t want to think about that.

Dave put his razor away and wiped the counter down.  “Me neither.”  He combed his hair and brushed his teeth.  He leaned over and kissed Kurt on the side of the neck.  “I love you.”

Kurt got up and brushed his teeth before he went out into their room to get dressed.  He put black slim-fit trousers on and black ankle boots.  He pulled out a deep royal blue short-sleeve button-up shirt and put it on.  He pulled out a scarf and started to put it on, but then took it off and looked through Dave’s ties.

“Why did you put the scarf back?”

He looked back towards the closet and didn’t answer.  “I was thinking maybe I should go a little more classic.”

“I liked the scarf.”

“You’re not just saying that?”

He turned Kurt to face him and looked him in the eyes.  “What’s going on?”

“Maybe I should tone it down?  Maybe more people would like me if I weren’t so ‘out there’.”

“You can wear whatever you like.  If you want to dress more boring business style, then I won’t stop you, but if you’re doing this for me in any way, then don’t.  I love you and I don’t have to want to dress like you to think you look great the way you normally dress.  Wear what you like.  I’m not embarrassed of you or of us.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m absolutely sure.” Dave put his tie clip on and went in the bathroom to look.

Kurt put the tie back and pulled the scarf out again and put it on.  He followed Dave into the bathroom to make sure it was tied right. Dave turned and kissed him.

“Gorgeous.”

“Thank you.” Kurt looked Dave over.  He was in dark charcoal gray slacks and a patterned burgundy short-sleeved button-up and a slightly lighter gray tie.  “I like that shirt on you.  I haven’t seen you wear it in months.”  He kissed Dave.  “You’re very handsome, as always.  Ready to go?”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After the show ended, they walked toward the south end of Central Park, strolling along hand in hand.

“That was a lot of fun,” Kurt said.

“It was funnier than I had imagined it would be.  Where do you want to go for dinner?”

“Let’s try that place we saw called Melts.  Maybe we can split on of the melts and order milkshakes.  I know you thought the Nutella shake sounded good when we were looking at the menu.”

“Sounds good to me.” He pulled his phone out and mapped out the way to get there.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For loving me, accepting me.  You never make me feel like I should be different than how I am.  For going to shows with me, even though I don’t think you would have considered doing things like this if it weren’t for me.  You came to my ballet recitals.  You actually like our place, don’t you?  You’re not just saying it.”

“I’m not just saying it.  It feels like both of us, like it’s our place.  And I don’t feel like you need to thank me at all.  I love you and I enjoy going to shows with you.  I might not have gone if I hadn’t met you, but that doesn’t change the fact that I do like going.  I just didn’t know I did before I went the first time. You came to my hockey games and learned all of the rules.  You learned to play _Halo_ and _COD_.  This isn’t one-sided.  We’re not identical in our likes and interests, but I love you and I’ll support you just like you support me.  I’m figuring that we won’t join the same clubs, but we’ll still spend our evenings and weekends together just like we will when we go to college and get jobs.”

Kurt pointed down the street.  “There it is.” He picked up the pace.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

“Try mine,” Kurt offered Dave a drink of his strawberry milkshake.  “It’s even better than my favorite place in Lima.”

“That is good.” He offered his to Kurt.

“That’s decadent. Seriously.”

Dave laughed. “The sandwich was really good too. We’ll have to see if we can replicate them at home.”

“That reminds me. We need to find out what we’re supposed to make for tomorrow.”

“We’ll do that later. First we’re going for a romantic stroll in Central Park.”

“Sounds perfect.”

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Later that night after they had showered, they were snuggled up on the futon playing footsie and looking through the after school clubs while they listened to some classical cello music they both liked.

Kurt said, “I hope Quinn’s having fun at the girls’ sleepover.  I’m glad they’re including her already.”

“Me too.  I know she’s more nervous than we are, but knowing 10 or 12 girls already should help.”

“I wonder if the guys get together and do things.  I’ve decided that I’m going to go to the Harmonichords meeting on Tuesday,” Kurt said.  “And the Costume Design Club on Thursday.”

“There’s a baking club, but we both already know how to bake,” Dave said.  “There’s a book club, but I’m not sure about that. I need to see how much work AP English is going to require.”

“I’d only want to join if they read books I want to read.  I already have to read books that get assigned.  I think I only want to join activity-based clubs. We could both join the Set Design Club.  It meets on Wednesdays.”

“We could.  If you join those two other clubs, I think I’ll go to the rink and skate on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I haven’t kept up my training over the summer and I need to get back into shape.”

“I like your shape.” He pecked Dave on the cheek.

“Umm hmm.  While I appreciate the sentiment, looking buff or whatever is not the same as being able to wield my stick and make goals.”

“It’s a fantastic stick.  Although, I think you prefer it when I wield it.”

Dave blushed. “What’s gotten into you, Fancy?”

Kurt put the list of clubs down and climbed onto Dave’s lap and kissed him.  “Nothing just yet, but that will change soon.”  He kissed Dave before he could respond. “After we finish picking out our clubs, we should go shopping online for the other things we need.”  He pressed back in and resumed their kissing.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story moves away from canon so early that the Warblers don't really get a part in it. Blaine was the only Warbler introduced by name, so I have borrowed quite a few of them and made them part of this story, as well as Chandler and Sugar.


End file.
